Essential C# 4.0, 3rd Edition

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Essential C# 4.0 Mark Michaelis

Upper Saddle River, NJ • Boston • Indianapolis • San Francisco New York • Toronto • Montreal • London • Munich • Paris • Madrid Capetown • Sydney • Tokyo • Singapore • Mexico City

From the Library of Wow! eBook

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and the publisher was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters or in all capitals. The .NET logo is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries and is used under license from Microsoft. Microsoft, Windows, Visual Basic, Visual C#, and Visual C++ are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S.A. and/or other countries/regions. The author and publisher have taken care in the preparation of this book, but make no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of the use of the information or programs contained herein. The publisher offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales, which may include electronic versions and/or custom covers and content particular to your business, training goals, marketing focus, and branding interests. For more information, please contact: U.S. Corporate and Government Sales (800) 382-3419 [email protected] For sales outside the United States, please contact: International Sales [email protected] Visit us on the Web: informit.com/aw Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Michaelis, Mark. Essential C# 4.0 / Mark Michaelis. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-321-69469-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. C# (Computer program language) I. Title. QA76.73.C154M5237 2010 005.13’3—dc22 2009052592 Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This publication is protected by copyright, and permission must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or likewise. For information regarding permissions, write to: Pearson Education, Inc. Rights and Contracts Department 501 Boylston Street, Suite 900 Boston, MA 02116 Fax: (617) 671-3447 ISBN-13: 978-0-321-69469-0 ISBN-10: 0-321-69469-4 Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at Edwards Brothers in Ann Arbor, Michigan. First printing, March 2010


To my family: Elisabeth, Benjamin, Hanna, and Abigail. You have sacrificed a husband and daddy for countless hours of writing, frequently at times when he was needed most. Thanks!


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Contents at a Glance

Contents xi Contents of C# 4.0 Topics xxv Figures xxvii Tables xxix Foreword xxxi Preface xxxv Acknowledgments xlvii About the Author li

1

Introducing C# 1

2 Data Types

31

3 Operators and Control Flow 83 4 Methods and Parameters 5 Classes

201

6 Inheritance 7

Interfaces

149

269 305

8 Value Types 331 9 Well-Formed Types 357 10 Exception Handling 405 11 Generics

421

12 Delegates and Lambda Expressions

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x

Contents of C# 4.0 Topics

13 Events

507

14 Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators 535 15 LINQ with Query Expressions 16 Building Custom Collections

589 611

17 Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming 651 18 Multithreading 701 19 Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns 20 Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code 21 The Common Language Infrastructure

749

815

843

A Downloading and Installing the C# Compiler and the CLI Platform 865 B Full Source Code Listings 869 C Concurrent Classes from System. Collections. Concurrent 895 D C# 2.0 Topics 899 E C# 3.0 Topics 903 F C# 4.0 Topics 905 Index

907


Contents

Contents of C# 4.0 Topics xxv Figures xxvii Tables xxix Foreword xxxi Preface xxxv Acknowledgments xlvii About the Author li

1

Introducing C# 1 Hello, World

2

Compiling and Running the Application

3

C# Syntax Fundamentals 4 Type Definition 7 Main 8 Statements and Statement Delimiters Whitespace 11

10

Working with Variables 12 Data Types 13 Declaring a Variable 14 Assigning a Variable 14 Using a Variable 16

Console Input and Output 16 Getting Input from the Console 16 Writing Output to the Console 18

Comments 20 Managed Execution and the Common Language Infrastructure 23

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Contents

C# and .NET Versioning 26 Common Intermediate Language and ILDASM 27 Summary 30

2 Data Types

31

Fundamental Numeric Types 32 Integer Types 32 Floating-Point Types (float, double) Decimal Type 34 Literal Values 35

33

More Fundamental Types 40 Boolean Type (bool) 40 Character Type (char) 41 Strings 43

null and void 51 null 51 The void Nontype

52

Categories of Types 55 Value Types 55 Reference Types 56

Nullable Modifier 57 Conversions between Data Types 58 Explicit Cast 58 Implicit Conversion 62 Type Conversion without Casting

62

Arrays 64 Declaring an Array 65 Instantiating and Assigning Arrays Using an Array 70 Strings as Arrays 76 Common Errors 78

Summary

66

81

3 Operators and Control Flow

83

Operators 84 Plus and Minus Unary Operators (+, -) 84 Arithmetic Binary Operators (+, -, *, /, %) 85 Parenthesis Operator 92 Assignment Operators (+=, -=, *=, /=, %=) 93 Increment and Decrement Operators (++, --) 94 Constant Expressions (const) 98


Contents

xiii

Introducing Flow Control 98 if Statement 102 Nested if 103 Code Blocks ({}) 105

Scope and Declaration Space 107 Boolean Expressions 109 Relational and Equality Operators 110 Logical Boolean Operators 111 Logical Negation Operator (!) 113 Conditional Operator (?) 113 Null Coalescing Operator (??) 114 Bitwise Operators (, |, &, ^, ~) 115 Shift Operators (, =) 116 Bitwise Operators (&, |, ^) 117 Bitwise Assignment Operators (&=, |=, ^=) 120 Bitwise Complement Operator (~) 120

Control Flow Statements, Continued 121 The while and do/while Loops The for Loop 124 The foreach Loop 127 The switch Statement 130

121

Jump Statements 132 The break Statement 132 The continue Statement 135 The goto Statement 137

C# Preprocessor Directives 138 Excluding and Including Code (#if, #elif, #else, #endif) Defining Preprocessor Symbols (#define, #undef) 141 Emitting Errors and Warnings (#error, #warning) 141 Turning Off Warning Messages (#pragma) 142 nowarn:<warn list> Option 143 Specifying Line Numbers (#line) 143 Hints for Visual Editors (#region, #endregion) 144

Summary

140

145

4 Methods and Parameters

149

Calling a Method 150 Namespace 152 Type Name 154 Scope 155 Method Name 155 Parameters 155


xiv

Contents Method Return 155 Statement versus Method Call

156

Declaring a Method 157 Parameter Declaration 159 Method Return Declaration 159

The using Directive 161 Aliasing

164

Returns and Parameters on Main() 165 Parameters 168 Value Parameters 168 Reference Parameters (ref) 170 Output Parameters (out) 171 Parameter Arrays (params) 173

Recursion 176 Method Overloading 179 Optional Parameters 182 Basic Error Handling with Exceptions 186 Trapping Errors 187 Reporting Errors Using a throw Statement

Summary

5 Classes

196

199

201

Declaring and Instantiating a Class 205 Instance Fields 209 Declaring an Instance Field 209 Accessing an Instance Field 210

Instance Methods 211 Using the this Keyword 213 Access Modifiers 220 Properties 222 Declaring a Property 223 Automatically Implemented Properties 225 Naming Conventions 227 Using Properties with Validation 228 Read-Only and Write-Only Properties 230 Access Modifiers on Getters and Setters 231 Properties as Virtual Fields 232 Properties and Method Calls Not Allowed as ref or out Parameter Values 234

Constructors 236 Declaring a Constructor 237 Default Constructors 239 Object Initializers 239


Contents

xv

Overloading Constructors 241 Constructor Chaining: Calling another Constructor Using this 243

Static Members 247 Static Fields 248 Static Methods 251 Static Constructors 253 Static Properties 254 Static Classes 255

Extension Methods 256 Encapsulating the Data 258 const 258 readonly 259

Nested Classes 260 Partial Classes 262 Defining a Partial Class Partial Methods 264

Summary

6 Inheritance

263

267

269

Derivation 270 Casting between Base and Derived Types private Access Modifier 275 protected Access Modifier 276 Extension Methods 278 Single Inheritance 278 Sealed Classes 281

272

Overriding the Base Class 281 virtual Modifier 282 new Modifier 286 sealed Modifier 291 base Member 291 Constructors 292

Abstract Classes 293 All Classes Derive from System.Object 299 Verifying the Underlying Type with the is Operator 301 Conversion Using the as Operator 302 Summary 303

7

Interfaces

305

Introducing Interfaces 306 Polymorphism through Interfaces 307 Interface Implementation 312


xvi

Contents Explicit Member Implementation 314 Implicit Member Implementation 315 Explicit versus Implicit Interface Implementation

316

Converting between the Implementing Class and Its Interfaces 318 Interface Inheritance 318 Multiple Interface Inheritance 321 Extension Methods on Interfaces 322 Implementing Multiple Inheritance via Interfaces 323 Versioning 326 Interfaces Compared with Classes 328 Summary 329

8 Value Types 331 Structs 332 Initializing structs 336 Using the default Operator 338 Inheritance and Interfaces with Value Types

338

Boxing 339 Enums 346 Type Compatibility between Enums 349 Converting between Enums and Strings 350 Enums as Flags 351

Summary

356

9 Well-Formed Types 357 Overriding object Members 357 Overriding ToString() 358 Overriding GetHashCode() 358 Overriding Equals() 361 Guidelines for Implementing Equality

369

Operator Overloading 369 Comparison Operators (==, !=, , =) 370 Binary Operators (+, -, *, /, %, &, |, ^, ) 371 Combining Assignment with Binary Operators (+=, -=, *=, /=, %=, &=…) 373 Conditional Logical Operators (&&, ||) 373 Unary Operators (+, -, !, ~, ++, --, true, false) 373 Conversion Operators 375 Guidelines for Conversion Operators 377

Referencing Other Assemblies 377 Changing the Assembly Target 378 Referencing an Assembly 379 Encapsulation of Types 379


Contents

xvii

Defining Namespaces 382 Namespace Alias Qualifier

384

XML Comments 385 Associating XML Comments with Programming Constructs Generating an XML Documentation File 388

386

Garbage Collection 390 Weak References

391

Resource Cleanup 393 Finalizers 393 Deterministic Finalization with the using Statement 395 Garbage Collection and Finalization 398 Resource Utilization and Finalization Guidelines 400

Lazy Initialization 400 Summary 403

10 Exception Handling 405 Multiple Exception Types 405 Catching Exceptions 407 General Catch Block 409 Guidelines for Exception Handling 411 Defining Custom Exceptions 414 Summary 419

11 Generics 421 C# without Generics 422 Introducing Generic Types 427 Using a Generic Class 427 Defining a Simple Generic Class 429 Benefits of Generics 430 Type Parameter Naming Guidelines 431 Generic Interfaces and Structs 432 Defining a Constructor and a Finalizer 434 Specifying a Default Value 435 Multiple Type Parameters 436 Arity in Abundance 437 Nested Generic Types 438

Constraints 439 Interface Constraints 442 Base Class Constraints 444 struct/class Constraints 445 Multiple Constraints 446 Constructor Constraints 446 Constraint Inheritance 447


xviii

Contents

Generic Methods 453 Type Inferencing 454 Specifying Constraints 455

Covariance and Contravariance 457 Enabling Covariance with the out Type Parameter Modifier in C# 4.0 458 Enabling Contravariance with the in Type Parameter Modifier in C# 4.0 460 Support for Parameter Covariance and Contravariance in Arrays 462

Generic Internals 463 Instantiating Generics Based on Value Types 464 Instantiating Generics Based on Reference Types 465

Summary

467

12 Delegates and Lambda Expressions

469

Introducing Delegates 470 Defining the Scenario 470 Delegate Data Types 472 Delegate Internals 473 Defining a Delegate Type 474 Instantiating a Delegate 475

Anonymous Methods 480 System-Defined Delegates: Func 483 Lambda Expressions 486 Statement Lambdas 486 Expression Lambdas 489 Outer Variables 495 Expression Trees 498

Summary

13 Events

506

507

Coding the Observer Pattern with Multicast Delegates 508 Defining Subscriber Methods 508 Defining the Publisher 510 Hooking Up the Publisher and Subscribers 511 Invoking a Delegate 512 Check for null 513 Delegate Operators 514 Sequential Invocation 516 Error Handling 519 Method Returns and Pass-by-Reference 522

Events 523 Why Events? 523 Declaring an Event 525 Coding Conventions 526


Contents Generics and Delegates 528 Customizing the Event Implementation

Summary

xix

532

533

14 Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators 535 Anonymous Types and Implicitly Typed Local Variables 536 Anonymous Types 537 Implicitly Typed Local Variables (var) 538 More about Anonymous Types and Implicit Local Variables

540

Collection Initializers 543 What Makes a Class a Collection: IEnumerable 546 foreach with Arrays 546 foreach with IEnumerable 547 Do Not Modify Collections during foreach Iteration

552

Standard Query Operators 552 Filtering with Where() 556 Projecting with Select() 557 Counting Elements with Count() 561 Deferred Execution 562 Sorting with OrderBy() and ThenBy() 566 Performing an Inner Join with Join() 572 Grouping Results with GroupBy() 575 Implementing a One-to-Many Relationship with GroupJoin() 577 Calling SelectMany() 580 More Standard Query Operators 582

Summary

586

15 LINQ with Query Expressions

589

Introducing Query Expressions 590 Projection 592 Filtering 598 Sorting 599 The Let Clause 600 Grouping 602 Query Continuation with into

605

Query Expressions as Method Invocations 608 Summary 609

16 Building Custom Collections

611

More Collection Interfaces 612 IList versus IDictionary IComparable 614 ICollection 616

614


xx

Contents

Primary Collection Classes 617 List Collections: List 617 Dictionary Collections: Dictionary 622 Sorted Collections: SortedDictionary and SortedList 626 Stack Collections: Stack 628 Queue Collections: Queue 629 Linked Lists: LinkedList 629

Providing an Index Operator 630 Returning Null or an Empty Collection 634 Iterators 634 Defining an Iterator 636 Iterator Syntax 636 Yielding Values from an Iterator 637 Iterators and State 639 More Iterator Examples 641 Placing a yield return within a Loop 643 Canceling Further Iteration: yield break 645 Creating Multiple Iterators in a Single Class 648 yield Statement Characteristics 649

Summary

650

17 Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming 651 Reflection 652 Accessing Metadata Using System.Type Member Invocation 655 Reflection on Generic Types 660

653

Attributes 663 Custom Attributes 666 Looking for Attributes 667 Initializing an Attribute through a Constructor System.AttributeUsageAttribute 673 Named Parameters 674

668

Programming with Dynamic Objects 688 Invoking Reflection Using dynamic 689 dynamic Principles and Behaviors 690 Why Dynamic Binding? 694 Static Compilation versus Dynamic Programming Implementing a Custom Dynamic Object 696

Summary

695

699


Contents

xxi

18 Multithreading 701 Running and Controlling a Separate Thread 706 ContinueWith() 711 Unhandled Exception Handling on Task Canceling a Task 718 Long-Running Tasks 722 Disposing a Task 723

715

Executing Iterations in Parallel 724 Parallel Exception Handling with System.AggregateException 728 Canceling a Parallel Loop 729

Running LINQ Queries in Parallel 734 Canceling a PLINQ Query

736

Multithreading before .NET Framework 4 738 Asynchronous Operations with System.Threading.Thread Thread Management 740 Thread Pooling 742

738

Unhandled Exceptions on the AppDomain 744 Summary 746

19 Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns

749

Synchronization 750 Synchronization Using Monitor 754 Using the lock Keyword 757 Choosing a lock Object 758 Why to Avoid Locking on this, typeof(type), and string Declaring Fields as volatile 760 Using the System.Threading.Interlocked Class 761 Event Notification with Multiple Threads 763 Synchronization Design Best Practices 764 More Synchronization Types 766 Thread Local Storage 774

759

Timers 778 Asynchronous Programming Model 783 Calling the APM 784 Calling the APM Using TPL

791

Asynchronous Delegate Invocation 797 Passing Data to and from an Alternate Thread

799

Event-Based Asynchronous Pattern (EAP) 801 Background Worker Pattern 804 Establishing the Pattern 807 Exception Handling 808


xxii

Contents

Windows UI Programming 809 Windows Forms 809 Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)

Summary

811

814

20 Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code

815

Platform Invoke 816 Declaring External Functions 817 Parameter Data Types 818 Using ref Rather Than Pointers 819 Using StructLayoutAttribute for Sequential Layout Error Handling 821 Using SafeHandle 823 Calling External Functions 826 Simplifying API Calls with Wrappers 828 Function Pointers Map to Delegates 829 Guidelines 829

820

Pointers and Addresses 830 Unsafe Code 830 Pointer Declaration 832 Assigning a Pointer 834 Dereferencing a Pointer 837 Accessing the Member of a Referent Type

Summary

839

839

21 The Common Language Infrastructure 843 Defining the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) 844 CLI Implementations 845 C# Compilation to Machine Code 847 Runtime 849 Garbage Collection 849 Garbage Collection on .NET Type Safety 851 Code Access Security 852 Platform Portability 852 Performance 853

850

Application Domains 854 Assemblies, Manifests, and Modules 855 Common Intermediate Language (CIL) 858 Common Type System (CTS) 858 Common Language Specification (CLS) 859


Contents

xxiii

Base Class Library (BCL) 860 Metadata 860 Summary 862

A Downloading and Installing the C# Compiler and the CLI Platform 865 B Full Source Code Listings 869 C Concurrent Classes from System.Collections.Concurrent

895

D C# 2.0 Topics 899 E

C# 3.0 Topics 903

F

C# 4.0 Topics Index

905

907




Contents of C# 4.0 Topics

4 Methods and Parameters Common Namespaces 153 Optional Parameters 182

9 Well-Formed Types Generics Lazy Loading With

401

Use of System.Exception Tuple Generic Types 437

412

11 Generics Generics Enabling Covariance 458 Enabling Contravariance 460 Support for Covariance and Contravariance 462

12 Delegates and Lambda Expressions System-Defined Delegates: Func 483 Parallel LINQ (PLINQ) 559 Programming with Dynamic Objects 688

18 Multithreading 701 Running Threads

706

Unhandled Exception Handling on Task Canceling Tasks 718

715

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Contents of C# 4.0 Topics Long-Running Threads Disposing Tasks 723

722

Executing Iterations in Parallel 724 Parallel Exception Handling with System.AggregateException 728 Canceling Parallel Loops 729 Running LINQ Queries in Parallel 734 Multithreading, Unhandled Exceptions on AppDomain


744

749

Monitor Class Synchronization 754 lock Keyword 757 Reset Events 768 ManualResetEvent and Semaphores over AutoReset Event Concurrent Collection Classes 773 Thread Local Storage 774 Calling APMs (Asynchronous Programming Models) Using TPL (Task Parallel Library) 791 Asynchronous Delegate Invocation 797

772


Figures

Figure 2.1: Value Types Contain the Data Directly 55 Figure 2.2: Reference Types Point to the Heap 56 Figure 3.1: Figure 3.2: Figure 3.3: Figure 3.4: Figure 3.5:

Corresponding Placeholder Values 115 Calculating the Value of an Unsigned Byte 116 Calculating the Value of a Signed Byte 116 The Numbers 12 and 7 Represented in Binary 118 Collapsed Region in Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 145

Figure 4.1: Exception-Handling Program Flow

190

Figure 5.1: Class Hierarchy 204 Figure 6.1: Refactoring into a Base Class 271 Figure 6.2: Working around Multiple Inheritance Using Aggregation 280 Figure 7.1: Working around Single Inheritances with Aggregation and Interfaces 326 Figure 8.1: Value Types Contain the Data Directly 332 Figure 8.2: Reference Types Point to the Heap 333 Figure 9.1: Identity 362 Figure 9.2: XML Comments as Tips in Visual Studio IDE

386

Figure 12.1: Delegate Types Object Model 474 Figure 12.2: Anonymous Function terminology 486 Figure 12.3: Object Graph of a Lambda Expression 500 Figure 12.4: Object Graph of Unary and Binary Expressions 501 xxvii From the Library of Wow! eBook

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Figures

Figure 13.1: Delegate Invocation Sequence Diagram 517 Figure 13.2: Multicast Delegates Chained Together 518 Figure 13.3: Delegate Invocation with Exception Sequence Diagram 520 Figure 14.1: Figure 14.2: Figure 14.3:

IEnumerator and IEnumerator Interfaces IEnumerator and IEnumerator Interfaces

548 564 Venn Diagram of Inventor and Patent Collections 569

Figure 16.1: Generic Collection Interface Hierarchy 613 Figure 16.2: List Class Diagrams 618 Figure 16.3: Dictionary Class Diagrams 622 Figure 16.4: SortedList and SortedDictionary Class Diagrams 627 Figure 16.5: Stack Class Diagram 629 Figure 16.6: Queue Class Diagram 629 Figure 16.7: LinkedList and LinkedListNode Class Diagrams 630 Figure 16.8: Sequence Diagram with yield return 640 Figure 17.1: MemberInfo Derived Classes 660 Figure 17.2: BinaryFormatter Does Not Encrypt Data

683

Figure 18.1: Clock Speeds over Time 702 Figure 18.2: CancellationTokenSource and CancellationToken Class Diagrams 721 Figure 19.1: APM Parameter Distribution 786 Figure 19.2: Delegate Parameter Distribution to BeginInvoke() and EndInvoke()

800

Figure 20.1: Pointers Contain the Address of the Data 832 Figure 21.1: Compiling C# to Machine Code 848 Figure 21.2: Assemblies with the Modules and Files They Reference 856


Tables

Table 1.1: C# Keywords 5 Table 1.2: C# Comment Types 21 Table 1.3: C# and .NET Versions 26 Table 2.1: Table 2.2: Table 2.3: Table 2.4: Table 2.5: Table 2.6: Table 2.7:

Integer Types 32 Floating-Point Types 33 decimal Type 34 Escape Characters 42 string Static Methods 46 string Methods 47 Common Array Coding Errors

Table 3.1: Table 3.2: Table 3.3: Table 3.4: Table 3.5:

Control Flow Statements 99 Relational and Equality Operators 110 Conditional Values for the XOR Operator Preprocessor Directives 139 Operator Order of Precedence 146

Table 4.1: Table 4.2:

Common Namespaces 153 Common Exception Types 193

79

113

Table 6.1: Why the New Modifier? 287 Table 6.2: Members of System.Object 299 Table 7.1: Comparing Abstract Classes and Interfaces Table 8.1: Boxing Code in CIL

328

340

Table 9.1: Accessibility Modifiers

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Tables

Table 12.1:

Lambda Expression Notes and Examples


Simpler Standard Query Operators 584 Aggregate Functions on System.Linq.Enumerable

Table 17.1:

Deserialization of a New Version Throws an Exception 685

Table 18.1:

List of Available TaskContinuationOptions Enums1

Table 19.1: Table 19.2: Table 19.3: Table 19.4: Table 19.5:

Sample Pseudocode Execution 752 Interlock’s Synchronization-Related Methods 762 Execution Path with ManualResetEvent Synchronization 770 Concurrent Collection Classes 773 Overview of the Various Timer Characteristics 779


Primary C# Compilers 845 Common C#-Related Acronyms 862

491

585

712


Foreword

MARK MICHAELIS’S OVERVIEW OF THE

C# language has become a standard reference for developers. In this, its third edition, programmers will find a thoughtful, well-written guide to the intricacies of one of the world’s most popular computer languages. Having laid a strong foundation in the earlier editions of this book, Mark adds new chapters that explain the latest features in both C# and the .NET Framework. Two of the most important additions to the book cover the latest tools for parallel programming and the new dynamic features found in C# 4.0. The addition of dynamic features to the C# language will give developers access to late-bound languages such as Python and Ruby. Improved support for COM Interop will allow developers to access Microsoft Office with an intuitive and easy-to-use syntax that makes these great tools easy to use. Mark’s coverage of these important topics, along with his explanation of the latest developments in concurrent development, make this an essential read for C# developers who want to hone their skills and master the best and most vital parts of the C# language. As the community PM for the C# team, I work to stay attuned to the needs of our community. Again and again I hear the same message: “There is so much information coming out of Microsoft that I can’t keep up. I need access to materials that explain the technology, and I need them presented in a way that I can understand.” Mark Michaelis is a one-man solution to a C# developer’s search for knowledge about Microsoft’s most recent technologies.

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Foreword

I first met Mark at a breakfast held in Redmond, Washington, on a clear, sunny morning in the summer of 2006. It was an early breakfast, and I like to sleep in late. But I was told Mark was an active community member, and so I woke up early to meet him. I’m glad I did. The distinct impression he made on me that morning has remained unchanged over the years. Mark is a tall, athletic man originally from South Africa, who speaks in a clear, firm, steady voice with a slight accent that most Americans would probably find unidentifiable. He competes in Ironman triathlons and has the lean, active look that one associates with that sport. Cheerful and optimistic, he nevertheless has a businesslike air about him; one has the sense that he is always trying to find the best way to fit too many activities into a limited time frame. Mark makes frequent trips to the Microsoft campus to participate in reviews of upcoming technology or to consult on a team’s plans for the future. Flying in from his home in Spokane, Washington, Mark has clearly defined agendas. He knows why he is on the campus, gives his all to the work, and looks forward to heading back home to his family in Spokane. Sometimes he finds time to fit in a quick meeting with me, and I always enjoy them. He is cheerful and energetic, and nearly always has something provocative to say about some new technology or program being developed by Microsoft. This brief portrait of Mark tells you a good deal about what you can expect from this book. It is a focused book with a clear agenda written in a cheerful, no-nonsense manner. Mark works hard to discover the core parts of the language that need to be explained and then he writes about them in the same way that he speaks: with a lucid, muscular prose that is easy to understand and totally devoid of condescension. Mark knows what his audience needs to hear and he enjoys teaching. Mark knows not only the C# language, but also the English language. He knows how to craft a sentence, how to divide his thoughts into paragraphs and subsections, and how to introduce and summarize a topic. He consistently finds clear, easy-to-understand ways to explain complex subjects. I read the first edition of Mark’s book cover to cover in just a few evenings of concentrated reading. Like the current volume, it is a delight to


Foreword

xxxiii

read. Mark selects his topics with care, and explains them in the simplest possible terms. He knows what needs to be included, and what can be left out. If he wants to explore an advanced topic, he clearly sets it apart from the rest of the text. He never shows off by first parading his intellect at the expense of our desire to understand. A centrally important part of this new edition of the book continues to be its coverage of LINQ. For many developers the declarative style of programming used by LINQ is a new technology that requires developing new habits and new ways of thinking. C# 3.0 contained several new features that enable LINQ. A main goal of the book is to lay out these features in detail. Explaining LINQ and the technologies that enable it is no easy task, and Mark has rallied all his formidable skills as a writer and teacher to lay this technology out for the reader in clear and easy-to-understand terms. All the key technologies that you need to know if you want to understand LINQ are carefully explained in this text. These include • Partial methods • Automatic properties • Object initializers • Collection initializers • Anonymous types • Implicit local variables (var) • Lambdas • Extension methods • Expression trees • IEnumerable and IQueryable • LINQ query operators • Query expressions

The march to an understanding of LINQ begins with Mark’s explanations of important C# 2.0 technologies such as generics and delegates. He then walks you step by step through the transition from delegates to lambdas. He explains why lambdas are part of C# 3.0 and the key role they play


xxxiv

Foreword

in LINQ. He also explains extension methods, and the role they play in implementation of the LINQ query operators. His coverage of C# 3.0 features culminates in his detailed explanation of query expressions. He covers the key features of query expressions such as projections, filtering, ordering, grouping, and other concepts that are central to an understanding of LINQ. He winds up his chapter on query expressions by explaining how they can be converted to the LINQ query method syntax, which is actually executed by the compiler. By the time you are done reading about query expressions you will have all the knowledge you need to understand LINQ and to begin using this important technology in your own programs. If you want to be a C# developer, or if you want to enhance your C# programming skills, there is no more useful tool than a well-crafted book on the subject. You are holding such a book in your hands. A text such as this can first teach you how the language works, and then live on as a reference that you use when you need to quickly find answers. For developers who are looking for ways to stay current on Microsoft’s technologies, this book can serve as a guide through a fascinating and rapidly changing landscape. It represents the very best and latest thought on what is fast becoming the most advanced and most important contemporary programming language. —Charlie Calvert Community Program Manager, Visual C#, Microsoft January 2010


Preface

THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY of software engineering, the methodology used

to write computer programs has undergone several paradigm shifts, each building on the foundation of the former by increasing code organization and decreasing complexity. This book takes you through these same paradigm shifts. The beginning chapters take you through sequential programming structure, in which statements are written in the order in which they are executed. The problem with this model is that complexity increases exponentially as the requirements increase. To reduce this complexity, code blocks are moved into methods, creating a structured programming model. This allows you to call the same code block from multiple locations within a program, without duplicating code. Even with this construct, however, programs quickly become unwieldy and require further abstraction. Object-oriented programming, discussed in Chapter 5, was the response. In subsequent chapters, you will learn about additional methodologies, such as interface-based programming, LINQ (and the transformation it makes to the collection API), and eventually rudimentary forms of declarative programming (in Chapter 17) via attributes. This book has three main functions. 1. It provides comprehensive coverage of the C# language, going beyond a tutorial and offering a foundation upon which you can begin effective software development projects.

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Preface

2. For readers already familiar with C#, this book provides insight into some of the more complex programming paradigms and provides indepth coverage of the features introduced in the latest version of the language, C# 4.0 and .NET Framework 4. 3. It serves as a timeless reference, even after you gain proficiency with the language. The key to successfully learning C# is to start coding as soon as possible. Don’t wait until you are an “expert” in theory; start writing software immediately. As a believer in iterative development, I hope this book enables even a novice programmer to begin writing basic C# code by the end of Chapter 2. A number of topics are not covered in this book. You won’t find coverage of topics such as ASP.NET, ADO.NET, smart client development, distributed programming, and so on. Although these topics are relevant to the .NET Framework, to do them justice requires books of their own. Fortunately, Addison-Wesley’s .NET Development Series provides a wealth of writing on these topics. Essential C# 4.0 focuses on C# and the types within the Base Class Library. Reading this book will prepare you to focus on and develop expertise in any of the areas covered by the rest of the series.

Target Audience for This Book My challenge with this book was to keep advanced developers awake while not abandoning beginners by using words such as assembly, link, chain, thread, and fusion, as though the topic was more appropriate for blacksmiths than for programmers. This book’s primary audience is experienced developers looking to add another language to their quiver. However, I have carefully assembled this book to provide significant value to developers at all levels. • Beginners: If you are new to programming, this book serves as a

resource to help transition you from an entry-level programmer to a C# developer, comfortable with any C# programming task that’s thrown your way. This book not only teaches you syntax, but also


Preface

xxxvii

trains you in good programming practices that will serve you throughout your programming career. • Structured programmers: Just as it’s best to learn a foreign language

through immersion, learning a computer language is most effective when you begin using it before you know all the intricacies. In this vein, this book begins with a tutorial that will be comfortable for those familiar with structured programming, and by the end of Chapter 4, developers in this category should feel at home writing basic control flow programs. However, the key to excellence for C# developers is not memorizing syntax. To transition from simple programs to enterprise development, the C# developer must think natively in terms of objects and their relationships. To this end, Chapter 5’s Beginner Topics introduce classes and object-oriented development. The role of historically structured programming languages such as C, COBOL, and FORTRAN is still significant but shrinking, so it behooves software engineers to become familiar with object-oriented development. C# is an ideal language for making this transition because it was designed with object-oriented development as one of its core tenets. • Object-based and object-oriented developers: C++ and Java programmers,

and many experienced Visual Basic programmers, fall into this category. Many of you are already completely comfortable with semicolons and curly braces. A brief glance at the code in Chapter 1 reveals that at its core, C# is similar to the C and C++ style languages that you already know. • C# professionals: For those already versed in C#, this book provides a

convenient reference for less frequently encountered syntax. Furthermore, it provides answers to language details and subtleties that are seldom addressed. Most importantly, it presents the guidelines and patterns for programming robust and maintainable code. This book also aids in the task of teaching C# to others. With the emergence of C# 3.0 and C# 4.0, some of the most prominent enhancements are: – Implicitly typed variables (see Chapter 2) – Extension methods (see Chapter 5) – Partial methods (see Chapter 5)


xxxviii

Preface

– – – – – – – –

Anonymous types (see Chapter 11) Generics (see Chapter 11) Lambda statements and expressions (see Chapter 12) Expression trees (see Chapter 12) Standard query operators (see Chapter 14) Query expressions (see Chapter 15) Dynamic programming (Chapter 17) Multithreaded programming with the Task Programming Library (Chapter 18) – Parallel query processing with PLINQ – Concurrent collections (Chapter 19) These topics are covered in detail for those not already familiar with them. Also pertinent to advanced C# development is the subject of pointers, in Chapter 21. Even experienced C# developers often do not understand this topic well.

Features of This Book Essential C# 4.0 is a language book that adheres to the core C# Language 4.0 Specification. To help you understand the various C# constructs, the book provides numerous examples demonstrating each feature. Accompanying each concept are guidelines and best practices, ensuring that code compiles, avoids likely pitfalls, and achieves maximum maintainability. To improve readability, code is specially formatted and chapters are outlined using mind maps.

Code Samples The code snippets in most of this text (see sample listing on the next page) can run on any implementation of the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI), including the Mono, Rotor, and Microsoft .NET platforms. Platformor vendor-specific libraries are seldom used, except when communicating important concepts relevant only to those platforms (appropriately handling the single-threaded user interface of Windows, for example). Any code that specifically requires C# 3.0 or 4.0 compliance is called out in the C# 3.0 and C# 4.0 indexes at the end of the book.


Preface

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Here is a sample code listing. Listing 1.17: Commenting Your Code class CommentSamples { static void Main() {

single-line comment

string firstName; // Variable for storing the first name string lastName; // Variable for storing the last name System.Console.WriteLine("Hey you!"); delimited comment inside statement

System.Console.Write /* No new line */ ( "Enter your first name: "); firstName = System.Console.ReadLine(); System.Console.Write /* No new line */ ( "Enter your last name: "); lastName = System.Console.ReadLine(); /* Display a greeting to the console delimited comment using composite formatting. */ System.Console.WriteLine("Your full name is {0} {1}.", firstName, lastName); // This is the end // of the program listing } }

The formatting is as follows. • Comments are shown in italics. /* Display a greeting to the console using composite formatting. */

• Keywords are shown in bold. static void Main()

• Highlighted code calls out specific code snippets that may have

changed from an earlier listing, or demonstrates the concept described in the text.


xl

Preface System.Console.Write /* No new line */ (

Highlighting can appear on an entire line or on just a few characters within a line. System.Console.WriteLine( "Your full name is {0} {1}.",

• Incomplete listings contain an ellipsis to denote irrelevant code that

has been omitted. // ...

• Console output is the output from a particular listing that appears fol-

lowing the listing. OUTPUT 1.4: >HeyYou.exe Hey you! Enter your first name: Inigo Enter your last name: Montoya

• User input for the program appears in italics.

Although it might have been convenient to provide full code samples that you could copy into your own programs, doing so would detract you from learning a particular topic. Therefore, you need to modify the code samples before you can incorporate them into your programs. The core omission is error checking, such as exception handling. Also, code samples do not explicitly include using System statements. You need to assume the statement throughout all samples. You can find sample code and bonus mateial at intelliTechture.com/ EssentialCSharp and at informit.com/msdotnetseries.

Mind Maps Each chapter’s introduction includes a mind map, which serves as an outline that provides an at-a-glance reference to each chapter’s content. Here is an example (taken from Chapter 5).


Preface

Partial Classes Nested Classes

8

9

1

Special Classes

xli

Declaring and Instantiating a Class

2

Extension Methods

Instance Declaring an Instance Field Fields Accessing an Instance Field Const and readonly Modifiers

Static Fields Static Methods Static Constructors Static Classes

Declaring a Constructor Default Constructors Overloading Constructors Calling one Constructor Using this Finalizers

7

Static

Classes

6

3

Instance Methods

4

Access Modifiers

Constructors & Finalizers

Declaring a Property

5

Properties

Naming Conventions Using Properties with Validation Read-Only and Write-Only Properties Access Modifiers on Getters and Setters Properties as Virtual Fields Properties and Method Calls Not Allowed as ref or out Parameter Values

The theme of each chapter appears in the mind map’s center. High-level topics spread out from the core. Mind maps allow you to absorb the flow from high-level to more detailed concepts easily, with less chance of encountering very specific knowledge that you might not be looking for.

Helpful Notes Depending on your level of experience, special code blocks and tabs will help you navigate through the text. • Beginner Topics provide definitions or explanations targeted specifi-

cally toward entry-level programmers. • Advanced Topics enable experienced developers to focus on the

material that is most relevant to them. • Callout notes highlight key principles in callout boxes so that readers

easily recognize their significance. • Language Contrast sidebars identify key differences between C# and

its predecessors to aid those familiar with other languages.


xlii

Preface

How This Book Is Organized At a high level, software engineering is about managing complexity, and it is toward this end that I have organized Essential C# 4.0. Chapters 1–4 introduce structured programming, which enable you to start writing simple functioning code immediately. Chapters 5–9 present the object-oriented constructs of C#. Novice readers should focus on fully understanding this section before they proceed to the more advanced topics found in the remainder of this book. Chapters 11–13 introduce additional complexityreducing constructs, handling common patterns needed by virtually all modern programs. This leads to dynamic programming with reflection and attributes, which is used extensively for threading and interoperability in the chapters that follow. The book ends with a chapter on the Common Language Infrastructure, which describes C# within the context of the development platform in which it operates. This chapter appears at the end because it is not C# specific and it departs from the syntax and programming style in the rest of the book. However, this chapter is suitable for reading at any time, perhaps most appropriately immediately following Chapter 1. Here is a description of each chapter (in this list, chapter numbers shown in bold indicate the presence of C# 3.0 or C# 4.0 material). • Chapter 1—Introducing C#: After presenting the C# HelloWorld pro-

gram, this chapter proceeds to dissect it. This should familiarize readers with the look and feel of a C# program and provide details on how to compile and debug their own programs. It also touches on the context of a C# program’s execution and its intermediate language. • Chapter 2—Data Types: Functioning programs manipulate data, and

this chapter introduces the primitive data types of C#. This includes coverage of two type categories, value types and reference types, along with conversion between types and support for arrays. • Chapter 3—Operators and Control Flow: To take advantage of the

iterative capabilities in a computer, you need to know how to include loops and conditional logic within your program. This chapter also covers the C# operators, data conversion, and preprocessor directives.


Preface

xliii

• Chapter 4—Methods and Parameters: This chapter investigates the

details of methods and their parameters. It includes passing by value, passing by reference, and returning data via a parameter. In C# 4.0 default parameter support was added and this chapter explains how to use them. • Chapter 5—Classes: Given the basic building blocks of a class, this

chapter combines these constructs together to form fully functional types. Classes form the core of object-oriented technology by defining the template for an object. • Chapter 6—Inheritance: Although inheritance is a programming fun-

damental to many developers, C# provides some unique constructs, such as the new modifier. This chapter discusses the details of the inheritance syntax, including overriding. • Chapter 7—Interfaces: This chapter demonstrates how interfaces are

used to define the “versionable” interaction contract between classes. C# includes both explicit and implicit interface member implementation, enabling an additional encapsulation level not supported by most other languages. • Chapter 8—Value Types: Although not as prevalent as defining refer-

ence types, it is sometimes necessary to define value types that behave in a fashion similar to the primitive types built into C#. This chapter describes how to define structures, while exposing the idiosyncrasies they may introduce. • Chapter 9—Well-Formed Types: This chapter discusses more advanced

type definition. It explains how to implement operators, such as + and casts, and describes how to encapsulate multiple classes into a single library. In addition, the chapter demonstrates defining namespaces and XML comments, and discusses how to design classes for garbage collection. • Chapter 10—Exception Handling: This chapter expands on the excep-

tion-handling introduction from Chapter 4 and describes how exceptions follow a hierarchy that enables creating custom exceptions. It also includes some best practices on exception handling.


xliv

Preface • Chapter 11—Generics: Generics is perhaps the core feature missing

from C# 1.0. This chapter fully covers this 2.0 feature. In addition, C# 4.0 added support for covariance and contravariance—something covered in the context of generics in this chapter. • Chapter 12—Delegates and Lambda Expressions: Delegates begin clearly

distinguishing C# from its predecessors by defining patterns for handling events within code. This virtually eliminates the need for writing routines that poll. Lambda expressions are the key concept that make C# 3.0’s LINQ possible. This chapter explains how lambda expressions build on the delegate construct by providing a more elegant and succinct syntax. This chapter forms the foundation for the new collection API discussed next. • Chapter 13—Events: Encapsulated delegates, known as events, are a

core construct of the Common Language Runtime. Anonymous methods, another C# 2.0 feature, are also presented here. • Chapter 14—Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators: The

simple and yet elegantly powerful changes introduced in C# 3.0 begin to shine in this chapter as we take a look at the extension methods of the new Enumerable class. This class makes available an entirely new collection API known as the standard query operators and discussed in detail here. • Chapter 15—LINQ with Query Expressions: Using standard query

operators alone results in some long statements that are hard to decipher. However, query expressions provide an alternative syntax that matches closely with SQL, as described in this chapter. • Chapter 16—Building Custom Collections: In building custom APIs that

work against business objects, it is sometimes necessary to create custom collections. This chapter details how to do this, and in the process introduces contextual keywords that make custom collection building easier. • Chapter 17—Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming: Object-

oriented programming formed the basis for a paradigm shift in program structure in the late 1980s. In a similar way, attributes facilitate declarative programming and embedded metadata, ushering in a new paradigm. This chapter looks at attributes and discusses how to


Preface

xlv

retrieve them via reflection. It also covers file input and output via the serialization framework within the Base Class Library. In C# 4.0 a new keyword, dynamic, was added to the language. This removed all type checking until runtime, a significant expansion of what can be done with C#. • Chapter 18—Multithreading: Most modern programs require the use

of threads to execute long-running tasks while ensuring active response to simultaneous events. As programs become more sophisticated, they must take additional precautions to protect data in these advanced environments. Programming multithreaded applications is complex. This chapter discusses how to work with threads and provides best practices to avoid the problems that plague multithreaded applications. • Chapter 19—Synchronization and Other Multithreading Patterns: Build-

ing on the preceding chapter, this one demonstrates some of the builtin threading pattern support that can simplify the explicit control of multithreaded code. • Chapter 20—Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code: Given that C# is

a relatively young language, far more code is written in other languages than in C#. To take advantage of this preexisting code, C# supports interoperability—the calling of unmanaged code—through P/Invoke. In addition, C# provides for the use of pointers and direct memory manipulation. Although code with pointers requires special privileges to run, it provides the power to interoperate fully with traditional C-based application programming interfaces. • Chapter 21—The Common Language Infrastructure: Fundamentally, C#

is the syntax that was designed as the most effective programming language on top of the underlying Common Language Infrastructure. This chapter delves into how C# programs relate to the underlying runtime and its specifications. • Appendix A—Downloading and Installing the C# Compiler and the CLI Plat-

form: This appendix provides instructions for setting up a C# compiler and the platform on which to run the code, Microsoft .NET or Mono. • Appendix B—Full Source Code Listing: In several cases, a full source code

listing within a chapter would have made the chapter too long. To make


xlvi

Preface

these listings still available to the reader, this appendix includes full listings from Chapters 3, 11, 12, 14, and 17. • Appendix C—Concurrent Classes from System.Collections.Concurrent: This appendix provides overview diagrams of the concurrent

collections that were added in the .NET Framework 4. • Appendixes D-F: C# 2.0, C# 3.0, C# 4.0 Topics: These appendices pro-

vide a quick reference for any C# 2.0, C# 3.0, or C# 4.0 content. They are specifically designed to help programmers quickly get up to speed on C# features. I hope you find this book to be a great resource in establishing your C# expertise and that you continue to reference it for the more obscure areas of C# and its inner workings. —Mark Michaelis mark.michaelis.net


Acknowledgments

published by the author alone, and I am extremely grateful for the multitude of people who helped me with this one. The order in which I thank people is not significant, except for those that come first. By far, my family has made the biggest sacrifice to allow me to complete this. Benjamin, Hanna, and Abigail often had a Daddy distracted by this book, but Elisabeth suffered even more so. She was often left to take care of things, holding the family’s world together on her own. I would like to say it got easier with each edition but, alas, no; as the kids got older, life became more hectic, and without me Elisabeth was stretched to the breaking point virtually all the time. A huge sorry and ginormous Thank You! Many technical editors reviewed each chapter in minute detail to ensure technical accuracy. I was often amazed by the subtle errors these folks still managed to catch: Paul Bramsman, Kody Brown, Ian Davis, Doug Dechow, Gerard Frantz, Thomas Heavey, Anson Horton, Brian Jones, Shane Kercheval, Angelika Langer, Eric Lippert, John Michaelis, Jason Morse, Nicholas Paldino, Jon Skeet, Michael Stokesbary, Robert Stokesbary, John Timney, and Stephen Toub. In particular, Michael was a huge help in editing the technical content and serving as a sounding board as I was putting the material together, not to mention his invaluable friendship. I am also especially grateful to the C# MVPs (Nicholas and John), who know the language in certain areas second only to those on the C# team. NO BOOK CAN BE

xlvii From the Library of Wow! eBook

xlviii

Acknowledgments

Eric is no less than amazing. His grasp of the C# vocabulary is truly astounding and I am very appreciative of his edits, especially when he pushed for perfection in terminology. His improvements to the C# 3.0 chapters were incredibly significant, and in the second edition my only regret was that I didn’t have him review all the chapters. However, that regret is no longer. Eric painstakingly reviewed every Essential C# 4.0 chapter with amazing detail and precision. I am extremely grateful for his contribution to making this book even better than the first two editions. Thanks, Eric! I can’t imagine anyone better for the job. You deserve all the credit for raising the bar from good to great. Like Eric and C#, there are fewer than a handful of people who know .NET multithreading as well as Stephen Toub. Accordingly, Stephen focused on the two rewritten multithreading chapters and their new focus on parallel programming. Stephen’s feedback in combination with the changes that occurred between Beta editions caused me to ask Stephen to take a second look after I updated them based on his first review—he accepted. I truly can’t imagine a better person to do the review. Thanks, Stephen! Thanks especially for putting up with me as I ramped up on the new API. Paul and Robert were key technical reviewers for the second edition, and they painstakingly recompiled and executed each listing. This was a big effort and the errors you found were much appreciated, along with your suggestions. Thanks to Scott Robertson at UCLA Extension for creating instructional materials for this book for university adoption. Thanks to everyone at Addison-Wesley for their patience in working with me in spite of my frequent focus on everything else except the manuscript. Thanks to: Olivia Basegio, Sheri Cain, Curt Johnson, Joan Murray, and Brandon Prebynski. Joan, thanks also for the weekly telephone calls to keep me on task during the second edition—well, for at least making me feel guilty when I wasn’t on task. Thanks also for your willingness to put up with me for this third edition. I wish I could say that this time I made it less stressful for you, but I doubt I did. Thanks!


Acknowledgments

xlix

Thanks to Audrey Doyle. Anyone who can quote The Chicago Manual of Style has to be the right person to have on your team as the copy editor. The stuff she noticed and corrected made me wonder whether I am qualified to use email. Thanks especially for all the formatting help. Prashant Sridharan, from Microsoft’s Developer Division, was the one who got me started on this, and he provided me with an incredible jumpstart on the material. Thanks, Prashant!




About the Author

Mark Michaelis recently started IntelliTechture, a software engineering and consulting company with high-end skills in Microsoft VSTS/TFS, BizTalk, SharePoint, and .NET. Mark also serves as a chief software architect and trainer for IDesign Inc. Mark holds a BA in philosophy from the University of Illinois and an MS in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology. In 2007, Mark was recognized as a Microsoft Regional Director. Since 1996, he has been a Microsoft MVP for C#, Visual Studio Team System, and the Windows SDK. He serves on several Microsoft software design review teams, including C#, the Connected Systems Division, and VSTS. Mark speaks at developer conferences and has written numerous articles and books. When not bonding with his computer, Mark is busy with his family or training for another triathlon (having completed the Ironman in 2008). Mark lives in Spokane, Washington, with his wife Elisabeth, and three children, Benjamin, Hanna, and Abigail.

li From the Library of Wow! eBook



1 Introducing C#

C#

that builds on features found in its predecessor C-style languages (C, C++, and Java), making it immediately familiar to many experienced programmers.1 Part of a larger, more complex execution platform called the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI), C# is a programming language for building software components and applications. 6

IS NOW A WELL - ESTABLISHED LANGUAGE

Common Intermediate Language and ILDASM

1

Hello, World Compiling and Running Managed Execution

Single Line Delimited

5

Comments

4

2 Introducing C#

Console Input and Output

Keywords C# Syntax Fundamentals Main Statements Whitespace

3

Working with Declaration Variables Assignment Use

This chapter introduces C# using the traditional HelloWorld program. The chapter focuses on C# syntax fundamentals, including defining an entry point into the C# program executable. This will familiarize you with 1. It has now been more than ten years since the first C# design meeting.

1


2

Chapter 1: Introducing C#

the C# syntax style and structure, and it will enable you to produce the simplest of C# programs. Prior to the discussion of C# syntax fundamentals is a summary of managed execution context, which explains how a C# program executes at runtime. This chapter ends with a discussion of variable declaration, writing and retrieving data from the console, and the basics of commenting code in C#.

Hello, World The best way to learn a new programming language is to write code. The first example is the classic HelloWorld program. In this program, you will display some text to the screen. Listing 1.1 shows the complete HelloWorld program; in the following sections, you will compile the code. Listing 1.1: HelloWorld in C#2 class HelloWorld { static void Main() { System.Console.WriteLine("Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya."); } }

NOTE C# is a case-sensitive language: Incorrect case prevents the code from compiling successfully.

Those experienced in programming with Java, C, or C++ will immediately see similarities. Like Java, C# inherits its basic syntax from C and C++.3 Syntactic punctuation (such as semicolons and curly braces), features (such as case sensitivity), and keywords (such as class, public, and void) 2. Refer to the movie The Princess Bride if you’re confused about the Inigo Montoya references. 3. When creating C#, the language creators sat down with the specifications for C/C++, literally crossing out the features they didn’t like and creating a list of the ones they did like. The group also included designers with strong backgrounds in other languages.


Hello, World

3

are familiar to programmers experienced in these languages. Beginners and programmers from other languages will quickly find these constructs intuitive.

Compiling and Running the Application The C# compiler allows any file extension for files containing C# source code, but .cs is typically used. After saving the source code to a file, developers must compile it. (Appendix A provides instructions for installing the compiler.) Because the mechanics of the command are not part of the C# standard, the compilation command varies depending on the C# compiler implementation. If you place Listing 1.1 into a file called HelloWorld.cs, the compilation command in Output 1.1 will work with the Microsoft .NET compiler (assuming appropriate paths to the compiler are set up).4 OUTPUT 1.1: >csc.exe HelloWorld.cs Microsoft (R) Visual C# 2008 Compiler version 4.0.20506.1 for Microsoft (R) .NET Framework version 4.0 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The exact output will vary depending on what version of the compiler you use. Running the resultant program, HelloWorld.exe, displays the message shown in Output 1.2. OUTPUT 1.2: >HelloWorld.exe Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya.

The program created by the C# compiler, HelloWorld.exe, is an assembly. Instead of creating an entire program that can be executed 4. Compilation using the Mono compiler, an open source compiler sponsored by Novell, is virtually identical, except that the compiler name is mcs.exe rather than csc.exe. Although I would very much have liked to place instructions for each platform here, doing so detracts from the topic of introducing C#. See Appendix A for details on Mono.


4


independently, developers can create a library of code that can be referenced by another, larger program. Libraries (or class libraries) use the filename extension .dll, which stands for Dynamic Link Library (DLL). A library is also an assembly. In other words, the output from a successful C# compile is an assembly regardless of whether it is a program or a library.

Language Contrast: Java—Filename Must Match Class Name In Java, the filename must follow the name of the class. In C#, this convention is frequently followed but is not required. In C#, it is possible to have two classes in one file, and starting with C# 2.0, it’s possible to have a single class span multiple files.

C# Syntax Fundamentals Once you successfully compile and run the HelloWorld program, you are ready to start dissecting the code to learn its individual parts. First, consider the C# keywords along with the identifiers that the developer chooses.

BEGINNER TOPIC Keywords In order for the compiler to interpret the code, certain words within C# have special status and meaning. Known as keywords or reserved words, they provide the concrete syntax that the compiler uses to interpret the expressions the programmer writes. In the HelloWorld program, class, static, and void are examples of keywords. The compiler uses the keywords to identify the structure and organization of the code. Because the compiler interprets these words with elevated significance, you can use keywords only under the specific rules identified by the language. In other words, programming languages require that developers place keywords only in certain locations. When programmers violate these rules, the compiler will issue errors.


C# Syntax Fundamentals

5

C# Keywords Table 1.1 shows the C# keywords. TABLE 1.1: C# Keywords abstract

add*

alias*

as

ascending*

base

bool

break

by*

byte

case

catch

char

checked

class

const

continue

decimal

default

delegate

descending*

do

double

dynamic*

else

enum

equals*

event

explicit

extern

false

finally

fixed

float

for

foreach

from*

get*

global*

goto

group*

if

implicit

in

int

interface

internal

into*

is

join*

let*

lock

long

namespace

new

null

object

on*

operator

orderby*

out

override

params

partial*

private

protected

public

readonly

ref

remove*

return

sbyte

sealed

select*

set*

short

sizeof

stackalloc

static

string

struct

switch

this

throw

true

try

typeof

uint

* Contextual keyword

Continues


6

Chapter 1: Introducing C# TABLE 1.1: C# Keywords (Continued) ulong

unchecked

unsafe

ushort

using

value*

var*

virtual

void

volatile

where*

while

yield* * Contextual keyword

After C# 1.0, no new keywords were introduced to C#. However, some constructs in these later versions use contextual keywords, which are significant only in specific locations. Outside these designated locations, contextual keywords have no special significance.5 By this method, all C# 1.0 code is fully compatible with the later standards.6 (Table 1.1 designates contextual keywords with a *.)

BEGINNER TOPIC Identifiers In addition to the keywords defined in C#, developers may provide their own names. Programming languages refer to these names as identifiers since they identify constructs that the programmer codes. In Listing 1.1, HelloWorld and Main are examples of identifiers. It is possible to assign a value to a variable and then refer to it later using its identifier. It is important, therefore, that the names the developer assigns are meaningful rather 5. For example, early in the design of C# 2.0, the language designers designated yield as a keyword, and Microsoft released alpha versions of the C# 2.0 compiler, with yield as a designated keyword, to thousands of developers. However, the language designers eventually determined that by using yield return rather than yield, they could ultimately avoid adding yield as a keyword because it would have no special significance outside its proximity to return. 6. There are some rare and unfortunate incompatibilities, such as the following: • C# 2.0 requiring implementation of IDisposable with the using statement, rather than simply a Dispose() method • Some rare generic expressions such as F(G(7)); in C# 1.0, that means F((G7)) and in C# 2.0, that means to call generic method G with argument 7 and pass the result to F



7

than arbitrary. A keen ability to select succinct and indicative names is an important characteristic of a strong programmer because the resultant code is easier to understand and reuse. In some rare cases, some identifiers, such as Main, can have a special meaning in the C# language.

ADVANCED TOPIC Keywords Although it is rare, keywords may be used as identifiers if they include “@” as a prefix. For example, you could name a local variable @return. Similarly (although it doesn’t conform to the casing standards of C# coding standards), it is possible to name a method @throw(). There are also four undocumented reserved keywords in the Microsoft implementation: __arglist, __makeref, __reftype, and __refvalue. These are required only in rare interop scenarios and you can ignore them for all practical purposes. Type Definition All code in C# appears within a type definition, and the most common type definition begins with the keyword class. A class definition is the section of code that generally begins with class identifier { ... }, as shown in Listing 1.2. Listing 1.2: Basic Class Declaration class HelloWorld { ... }

The name used for the type (in this case, HelloWorld) can vary, but by convention, it should begin with a capital letter and a noun. If the name contains multiple words appended together, then each additional word should also begin with a capital letter. For this particular example, therefore, other possible names are Greetings, HelloInigoMontoya, Hello, or simply Program. (Program works especially if it is the class that contains the Main() method described next.) The CLI creators called this type of casing Pascal casing because of its popularity in the Pascal programming


8


language. The alternative, camel casing, follows the same convention, except that the first letter is lowercase. Examples include quotient, firstName, and theDreadPirateRoberts. Generally, programs contain multiple types, each containing multiple methods.

Main BEGINNER TOPIC What Is a Method? Syntactically, a method in C# is a named block of code introduced by a method declaration (for example, static void Main()) and followed by zero or more statements within curly braces. Methods perform computations and/or actions. Similar to paragraphs in written languages, methods provide a means of structuring and organizing code so that it is more readable. More importantly, methods avoid the need to duplicate code. The method declaration introduces the method and defines the method name along with the data passed to and from the method. In Listing 1.3, Main() followed by { ... } is an example of a C# method. The location where C# programs begin execution is the Main method, which begins with static void Main(). When you execute the program by typing HelloWorld.exe at the command console, the program starts up, resolves the location of Main, and begins executing the first statement within Listing 1.3. Listing 1.3: Breaking Apart HelloWorld class HelloWorld { Main static void Main() Method Declaration { System.Console.WriteLine("Hello, My name is Inigo Montoya"); } Statement }

Class Definition

Although the Main method declaration can vary to some degree, static and the method name, Main, are always required for a program.



9

ADVANCED TOPIC Declaration of the Main Method Although it is possible to declare the Main method without parameters or a return type, C# supports specifying either one. Listing 1.4 shows the full declaration of the Main method. Listing 1.4: The Main Method, with Parameters and a Return static int Main(string[] args) { ... }

The args parameter is an array of strings corresponding to the commandline arguments. However, the first element of the array is not the program name but the first command-line parameter to appear after the executable name, unlike in C and C++. To retrieve the full command used to execute the program use System.Environment.CommandLine. The int return from Main is the status code and it indicates the success of the program’s execution. A return of a nonzero value generally indicates an error.

Language Contrast: C++/Java—main() Is All Lowercase Unlike its C-style predecessors, C# uses an uppercase M for the Main method in order to be consistent with the Pascal-based naming conventions of C#.

The designation of the Main method as static indicates that other methods may call it directly off the class definition. Without the static designation, the command console that started the program would need to perform additional work (known as instantiation) before calling the method. (Chapter 5 contains an entire section devoted to the topic of static members.)


10


Placing void prior to Main() indicates that this method does not return any data (explained further in Chapter 2). One distinctive C/C++ style characteristic followed by C# is the use of curly braces for the body of a construct, such as the class or the method. For example, the Main method contains curly braces that surround its implementation; in this case, only one statement appears in the method.

Statements and Statement Delimiters The Main method includes a single statement, System.Console.WriteLine(), which is used to write a line of text to the console. C# generally uses a semicolon to indicate the end of a statement, where a statement comprises one or more actions that the code will perform. Declaring a variable, controlling the program flow, and calling a method are examples of statements.

Language Contrast: Visual Basic—Line-Based Statements Some languages are line-based, meaning that without a special annotation, statements cannot span a line. Until Visual Basic 2010, Visual Basic was an example of a line-based language. It required an underscore at the end of a line to indicate that a statement spans multiple lines. Starting with Visual Basic 2010, many cases were introduced where the line continuation character was optional.

ADVANCED TOPIC Statements without Semicolons Many programming elements in C# end with a semicolon. One example that does not include the semicolon is a switch statement. Because curly braces are always included in a switch statement, C# does not require a semicolon following the statement. In fact, code blocks themselves are considered statements (they are also composed of statements) and they don’t require closure using a semicolon. Similarly, there are cases, such as the using declarative, in which a semicolon occurs at the end but it is not a statement.



11

Since creation of a newline does not separate statements, you can place multiple statements on the same line and the C# compiler will interpret the line to have multiple instructions. For example, Listing 1.5 contains two statements on a single line that, in combination, display Up and Down on two separate lines. Listing 1.5: Multiple Statements on One Line System.Console.WriteLine("Up");System.Console.WriteLine("Down");

C# also allows the splitting of a statement across multiple lines. Again, the C# compiler looks for a semicolon to indicate the end of a statement (see Listing 1.6). Listing 1.6: Splitting a Single Statement across Multiple Lines System.Console.WriteLine( "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya.");

In Listing 1.6, the original WriteLine() statement from the HelloWorld program is split across multiple lines.

Whitespace The semicolon makes it possible for the C# compiler to ignore whitespace in code. Apart from a few exceptions, C# allows developers to insert whitespace throughout the code without altering its semantic meaning. In Listing 1.5 and Listing 1.6, it didn’t matter whether a newline was inserted within a statement or between statements, and doing so had no effect on the resultant executable created by the compiler.

BEGINNER TOPIC What Is Whitespace? Whitespace is the combination of one or more consecutive formatting characters such as tab, space, and newline characters. Eliminating all whitespace between words is obviously significant, as is whitespace within a quoted string.


12


Frequently, programmers use whitespace to indent code for greater readability. Consider the two variations on HelloWorld, as shown in Listing 1.7 and Listing 1.8. Listing 1.7: No Indentation Formatting class HelloWorld { static void Main() { System.Console.WriteLine("Hello Inigo Montoya"); } }

Listing 1.8: Removing Whitespace class HelloWorld{static void Main() {System.Console.WriteLine("Hello Inigo Montoya");}}

Although these two examples look significantly different from the original program, the C# compiler sees them as identical.

BEGINNER TOPIC Formatting Code with Whitespace Indenting the code using whitespace is important for greater readability. As you begin writing code, you need to follow established coding standards and conventions in order to enhance code readability. The convention used in this book is to place curly braces on their own line and to indent the code contained between the curly brace pair. If another curly brace pair appears within the first pair, all the code within the second set of braces is also indented. This is not a uniform C# standard, but a stylistic preference.

Working with Variables Now that you’ve been introduced to the most basic C# program, it’s time to declare a local variable. Once a variable is declared, you can assign it a value, replace that value with a new value, and use it in calculations,


Working with Variables

13

output, and so on. However, you cannot change the data type of the variable. In Listing 1.9, string max is a variable declaration. Listing 1.9: Declaring and Assigning a Variable class MiracleMax { static void Main() { data type

string max; variable

max = "Have fun storming the castle!"; System.Console.WriteLine(max); } }

BEGINNER TOPIC Local Variables A variable refers to a storage location by a name that the program can later assign and modify. Local indicates that the programmer declared the variable within a method. To declare a variable is to define it, which you do by 1. Specifying the type of data which the variable will contain 2. Assigning it an identifier (name)

Data Types Listing 1.9 declares a variable with the data type string. Other common data types used in this chapter are int and char. • int is the C# designation of an integer type that is 32 bits in size. • char is used for a character type. It is 16 bits, large enough for

(nonsurrogate) Unicode characters. The next chapter looks at these and other common data types in more detail.


14


BEGINNER TOPIC What Is a Data Type? The type of data that a variable declaration specifies is called a data type (or object type). A data type, or simply type, is a classification of things that share similar characteristics and behavior. For example, animal is a type. It classifies all things (monkeys, warthogs, and platypuses) that have animal characteristics (multicellular, capacity for locomotion, and so on). Similarly, in programming languages, a type is a definition for several items endowed with similar qualities. Declaring a Variable In Listing 1.9, string max is a variable declaration of a string type whose name is max. It is possible to declare multiple variables within the same statement by specifying the data type once and separating each identifier with a comma. Listing 1.10 demonstrates this. Listing 1.10: Declaring Two Variables within One Statement string message1, message2;

Because a multivariable declaration statement allows developers to provide the data type only once within a declaration, all variables will be of the same type. In C#, the name of the variable may begin with any letter or an underscore (_), followed by any number of letters, numbers, and/or underscores. By convention, however, local variable names are camel-cased (the first letter in each word is capitalized, except for the first word) and do not include underscores.

Assigning a Variable After declaring a local variable, you must assign it a value before referencing it. One way to do this is to use the = operator, also known as the simple assignment operator. Operators are symbols used to identify the function the code is to perform. Listing 1.11 demonstrates how to use the assignment operator to designate the string values to which the variables max7 and valerie will point. 7. I am not using max to mean the math function here; I’m using it as a variable name.


Working with Variables

15

Listing 1.11: Changing the Value of a Variable class MiracleMax { static void Main() { string valerie; string max = "Have fun storming the castle!"; valerie = "Think it will work?"; System.Console.WriteLine(max); System.Console.WriteLine(valerie); max = "It would take a miracle."; System.Console.WriteLine(max); } }

From this listing, observe that it is possible to assign a variable as part of the variable declaration (as it was for max), or afterward in a separate statement (as with the variable valerie). The value assigned must always be on the right side. Running the compiled MiracleMax.exe program produces the code shown in Output 1.3. OUTPUT 1.3: >MiracleMax.exe Have fun storming the castle! Think it will work? It would take a miracle.

C# requires that developers assign a local variable before accessing it. Additionally, an assignment returns a value. Therefore, C# allows two assignments within the same statement, as demonstrated in Listing 1.12. Listing 1.12: Assignment Returning a Value That Can Be Assigned Again class MiracleMax { static void Main() { // ... string requirements, max; requirements = max = "It would take a miracle.";


16

Chapter 1: Introducing C# // ... } }

Using a Variable The result of the assignment, of course, is that you can then refer to the value using the variable identifier. Therefore, when you use the variable max within the System.Console.WriteLine(max) statement, the program displays Have fun storming the castle!, the value of max, on the console. Changing the value of max and executing the same System.Console. WriteLine(max) statement causes the new max value, It would take a miracle., to be displayed.

ADVANCED TOPIC Strings Are Immutable All data of type string, whether string literals or otherwise, is immutable (or unmodifiable). For example, it is not possible to change the string "Come As You Are" to "Come As You Age". A change such as this requires that you reassign the variable to point to a new location in memory, instead of modifying the data to which the variable originally referred.

Console Input and Output This chapter already used System.Console.WriteLine repeatedly for writing out text to the command console. In addition to being able to write out data, a program needs to be able to accept data that a user may enter.

Getting Input from the Console One of the ways to retrieve text that is entered at the console is to use System.Console.ReadLine(). This method stops the program execution so that the user can enter characters. When the user presses the Enter key, creating a newline, the program continues. The output, also known as the return, from the System.Console.ReadLine() method is the string of text that was entered. Consider Listing 1.13 and the corresponding output shown in Output 1.4.



17

Listing 1.13: Using System.Console.ReadLine() class HeyYou { static void Main() { string firstName; string lastName; System.Console.WriteLine("Hey you!"); System.Console.Write("Enter your first name: "); firstName = System.Console.ReadLine(); System.Console.Write("Enter your last name: "); lastName = System.Console.ReadLine(); ... } }

OUTPUT 1.4: >HeyYou.exe Hey you! Enter your first name: Inigo Enter your last name: Montoya

After each prompt, this program uses the System.Console.ReadLine() method to retrieve the text the user entered and assign it to an appropriate variable. By the time the second System.Console.ReadLine() assignment completes, firstName contains to the value Inigo and lastName refers to the value Montoya.

ADVANCED TOPIC System.Console.Read() In addition to the System.Console.ReadLine() method, there is also a System.Console.Read() method. However, the data type returned by the System.Console.Read() method is an integer corresponding to the charac-

ter value read, or –1 if no more characters are available. To retrieve the actual character, it is necessary to first cast the integer to a character, as shown in Listing 1.14.


18

Chapter 1: Introducing C# Listing 1.14: Using System.Console.Read() int readValue; char character; readValue = System.Console.Read(); character = (char) readValue; System.Console.Write(character);

The System.Console.Read() method does not return the input until the user presses the Enter key; no processing of characters will begin, even if the user types multiple characters before pressing the Enter key. In C# 2.0, the CLR designers added a new method called System. Console.ReadKey() which, in contrast to System.Console.Read(), returns the input after a single keystroke. It allows the developer to intercept the keystroke and perform actions such as key validation, restricting the characters to numerics.

Writing Output to the Console In Listing 1.13, you prompt the user for his first and last names using the method System.Console.Write() rather than System.Console.WriteLine(). Instead of placing a newline character after displaying the text, the System.Console.Write() method leaves the current position on the same line. In this way, any text the user enters will be on the same line as the prompt for input. The output from Listing 1.13 demonstrates the effect of System.Console.Write(). The next step is to write the values retrieved using System.Console. ReadLine() back to the console. In the case of Listing 1.15, the program writes out the user’s full name. However, instead of using System.Console.WriteLine() as before, this code will use a slight variation. Output 1.5 shows the corresponding output. Listing 1.15: Formatting Using System.Console.WriteLine() class HeyYou { static void Main() { string firstName; string lastName;



19

System.Console.WriteLine("Hey you!"); System.Console.Write("Enter your first name: "); firstName = System.Console.ReadLine(); System.Console.Write("Enter your last name: "); lastName = System.Console.ReadLine(); System.Console.WriteLine( "Your full name is {0} {1}.", firstName, lastName); } }

OUTPUT 1.5: Hey you! Enter your first name: Inigo Enter your last name: Montoya Your full name is Inigo Montoya.

Instead of writing out Your full name is followed by another Write statement for firstName, a third Write statement for the space, and finally a WriteLine statement for lastName, Listing 1.15 writes out the entire output using composite formatting. With composite formatting, the code first supplies a format string to define the output format. In this example, the format string is "Your full name is {0} {1}.". It identifies two indexed placeholders for data insertion in the string. Note that the index value begins at zero. Each inserted parameter (known as a format item) appears after the format string in the order corresponding to the index value. In this example, since firstName is the first parameter to follow immediately after the format string, it corresponds to index value 0. Similarly, lastName corresponds to index value 1. Note that the placeholders within the format string need not appear in order. For example, Listing 1.16 switches the order of the indexed placeholders and adds a comma, which changes the way the name is displayed (see Output 1.6). Listing 1.16: Swapping the Indexed Placeholders and Corresponding Variables System.Console.WriteLine("Your full name is {1}, {0}", firstName, lastName);


20

Chapter 1: Introducing C# OUTPUT 1.6: Hey you! Enter your first name: Inigo Enter your last name: Montoya Your full name is Montoya, Inigo

In addition to not having the placeholders appear consecutively within the format string, it is possible to use the same placeholder multiple times within a format string. Furthermore, it is possible to omit a placeholder. It is not possible, however, to have placeholders that do not have a corresponding parameter.

Comments In this section, you will modify the program in Listing 1.15 by adding comments. In no way does this vary the execution of the program; rather, providing comments within the code makes it more understandable. Listing 1.17 shows the new code, and Output 1.7 shows the corresponding output. Listing 1.17: Commenting Your Code class CommentSamples { static void Main() {

single-line comment

string firstName; // Variable for storing the first name string lastName; // Variable for storing the last name System.Console.WriteLine("Hey you!"); delimited comment inside statement

System.Console.Write /* No new line */ ( "Enter your first name: "); firstName = System.Console.ReadLine(); System.Console.Write /* No new line */ ( "Enter your last name: "); lastName = System.Console.ReadLine(); /* Display a greeting to the console using composite formatting. */

delimited comment


Comments

21

System.Console.WriteLine("Your full name is {0} {1}.", firstName, lastName); // This is the end // of the program listing } }

OUTPUT 1.7: Hey you! Enter your first name: Inigo Enter your last name: Montoya Your full name is Inigo Montoya.

In spite of the inserted comments, compiling and executing the new program produces the same output as before. Programmers use comments to describe and explain the code they are writing, especially where the syntax itself is difficult to understand, or perhaps a particular algorithm implementation is surprising. Since comments are pertinent only to the programmer reviewing the code, the compiler ignores comments and generates an assembly that is devoid of any trace that comments were part of the original source code. Table 1.2 shows four different C# comment types. The program in Listing 1.17 includes two of these. TABLE 1.2: C# Comment Types

Comment Type

Description

Example

Delimited comments

A forward slash followed by an asterisk, /*, identifies the beginning of a delimited comment. To end the comment use an asterisk followed by a forward slash: */. Comments of this form may span multiple lines in the code file or appear embedded within a line of code. The asterisks that appear at the beginning of the lines but within the delimiters are simply for formatting.

/*comment*/

Continues


22

Chapter 1: Introducing C# TABLE 1.2: C# Comment Types (Continued)

Comment Type

Description

Example

Single-line comments

Comments may also be declared with a delimiter comprising two consecutive forward slash characters: //. The compiler treats all text from the delimiter to the end of the line as a comment. Comments of this form comprise a single line. It is possible, however, to place sequential single-line comments one after another, as is the case with the last comment in Listing 1.17.

//comment

XML delimited comments

Comments that begin with /** and end with **/ are called XML delimited comments. They have the same characteristics as regular delimited comments, except that instead of ignoring XML comments entirely, the compiler can place them into a separate text file. XML delimited comments were only explicitly added in C# 2.0, but the syntax is compatible with C# 1.0.

/**comment**/

XML single-line comments

XML single-line comments begin with /// and continue to the end of the line. In addition, the compiler can save single-line comments into a separate file with the XML delimited comments.

///comment

A more comprehensive discussion of the XML comments appears in Chapter 9, where I discuss the various XML tags that are explicitly part of the XML standard.

BEGINNER TOPIC Extensible Markup Language (XML) The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a simple and flexible text format frequently used within web applications and for exchanging data between applications. XML is extensible because included within an XML


Managed Execution and the Common Language Infrastructure

23

document is information that describes the data, known as metadata. Here is a sample XML file. ...

The file starts with a header indicating the version and character encoding of the XML file. After that appears one main “book” element. Elements begin with a word in angle brackets, such as . To end an element, place the same word in angle brackets and add a forward slash to prefix the word, as in . In addition to elements, XML supports attributes. title="Essential C# 4.0" is an example of an XML attribute. Note that the metadata (book title, chapter, and so on) describing the data (“Essential C# 4.0”, “Operators and Control Flow”) is included in the XML file. This can result in rather bloated files, but it offers the advantage that the data includes a description to aid in interpreting the data.

Managed Execution and the Common Language Infrastructure The processor cannot directly interpret an assembly. Assemblies consist mainly of a second language known as the Common Intermediate Language (CIL), or IL for short.

NOTE A third term for CIL is Microsoft IL (MSIL). This book uses the term CIL because it is the term adopted by the CLI standard. IL is prevalent in conversation among people writing C# code because they assume that IL refers to CIL rather than other types of intermediate languages.


24


The C# compiler transforms the C# source file into this intermediate language. An additional step, usually performed at execution time, is required to change the CIL code into machine code that the processor can understand. This involves an important element in the execution of a C# program: the Virtual Execution System (VES). The VES, also casually referred to as the runtime, compiles CIL code as needed (this process is known as just-in-time compilation or jitting). The code that executes under the context of an agent such as the runtime is managed code, and the process of executing under control of the runtime is managed execution. It is called managed code because the runtime controls significant portions of the program’s behavior by managing aspects such as memory allocation, security, and just-in-time compilation. Code that does not require the runtime in order to execute is unmanaged code.

NOTE The term runtime can refer to either execution time or the Virtual Execution System. To help clarify, this book uses the term execution time to indicate when the program is executing, and it uses the term runtime when discussing the agent responsible for managing the execution of a C# program while it executes.

The specification for a VES is included in a broader specification known as the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) specification.8 An international standard, the CLI includes specifications for • The VES or runtime • The CIL • A type system that supports language interoperability, known as the

Common Type System (CTS) • Guidance on how to write libraries that are accessible from CLI-com-

patible languages (available in the Common Language Specification [CLS]) 8. Miller, J., and S. Ragsdale. 2004. The Common Language Infrastructure Annotated Standard. Boston: Addison-Wesley.


Managed Execution and the Common Language Infrastructure

25

• Metadata that enables many of the services identified by the CLI

(including specifications for the layout or file format of assemblies) • A common programming framework, the Base Class Library (BCL),

which developers in all languages can utilize Running within the context of a CLI implementation enables support for a number of services and features that programmers do not need to code for directly, including the following. • Language interoperability: interoperability between different source

languages. This is possible because the language compilers translate each source language to the same intermediate language (CIL). • Type safety: checks for conversion between types, ensuring that only

conversions between compatible types will occur. This helps prevent the occurrence of buffer overruns, a leading cause of security vulnerabilities. • Code access security: certification that the assembly developer’s code

has permission to execute on the computer. • Garbage collection: memory management that automatically

de-allocates space for data allocated by the runtime. • Platform portability: support for potentially running the same assem-

bly on a variety of operating systems. One obvious restriction is that no platform-dependent libraries are used; therefore, as with Java, there are inevitably some idiosyncrasies that need to be worked out. • BCL: provides a large foundation of code that developers can depend

on (in all CLI implementations) so that they do not have to develop the code themselves.

NOTE This section gives a brief synopsis of the CLI to familiarize you with the context in which a C# program executes. It also provides a summary of some of the terms that appear throughout this book. Chapter 21 is devoted to the topic of the CLI and its relevance to C# developers. Although the chapter appears last in the book, it does not depend on any earlier chapters, so if you want to become more familiar with the CLI, you can jump to it at any time.


26


C# and .NET Versioning Readers will notice that Output 1.1 refers to the “.NET Framework version 4.0.” At the time of this writing, Microsoft had five major releases to the .NET Framework and only four major C# compiler releases. .NET Framework version 3.0 was an additional set of API libraries released in between C# compiler releases (and Visual Studio 2005 and 2008 versions). As a result, the .NET Framework version that corresponded with C# 3.0 was 3.5. With the release of C# 4.0 and the .NET Framework 4.0, the version numbers are synchronized. Table 1.3 is a brief overview of the C# and .NET releases. TABLE 1.3: C# and .NET Versions

Comment Type

Description

C# 1.0 with .NET Framework 1.0/1.1 (Visual Studio 2002 and 2003)

The initial release of C#. A language built from the ground up to support .NET programming.

C# 2.0 with .NET Framework 2.0 (Visual Studio 2005)

Generics were added to the C# language and the .NET Framework 2.0 included libraries that supported generics.

.NET Framework 3.0

An additional set of APIs for distributed communications (Windows Communication Foundation—WCF), rich client presentation (Windows Presentation Foundation), workflow (Windows Workflow—WF), and web authentication (Cardspaces).


Added support for LINQ, a significant improvement to the APIs used for programming collections. The .NET Framework 3.5 provided libraries that extended existing APIs to make LINQ possible.


Added support for dynamic typing along with significant improvements in the API for writing multithreaded programs that capitalized on multiple processors and cores within those processors.

The majority of all code within this text will work with platforms other than Microsoft’s as long as the compiler version corresponds to the version of code required. Although I would very much have liked to provide full



27

details on each C# platform so as not to detract from the focus of learning C#, I restrict information such as this to Microsoft’s platform, .NET. This is simply because Microsoft has the predominant (by far) implementation. Furthermore, translation to another platform is fairly trivial.

Common Intermediate Language and ILDASM As mentioned in the previous section, the C# compiler converts C# code to CIL code and not to machine code. The processor can directly understand machine code, but CIL code needs to be converted before the processor can execute it. Given an assembly (either a DLL or an executable), it is possible to view the CIL code using a CIL disassembler utility to deconstruct the assembly into its CIL representation. (The CIL disassembler is commonly referred to by its Microsoft-specific filename, ILDASM, which stands for IL Disassembler.) This program will disassemble a program or its class libraries, displaying the CIL generated by the C# compiler. The exact command used for the CIL disassembler depends on which implementation of the CLI is used. You can execute the .NET CIL disassembler from the command line as shown in Output 1.8. OUTPUT 1.8: >ildasm /text HelloWorld.exe

The /text portion is used so that the output appears on the command console rather than in a new window. Similarly, the Mono disassembler implementation, which defaults to the command console, is shown in Output 1.9. OUTPUT 1.9: >monodis HelloWorld.exe

The stream of output that results by executing these commands is a dump of CIL code included in the HelloWorld.exe program. Note that CIL code is significantly easier to understand than machine code. For many


28


developers, this may raise a concern because it is easier for programs to be decompiled and algorithms understood without explicitly redistributing the source code. As with any program, CLI-based or not, the only foolproof way of preventing disassembly is to disallow access to the compiled program altogether (for example, only hosting a program on a web site instead of distributing it out to a user’s machine). However, if decreased accessibility to the source code is all that is required, there are several obfuscators. These obfuscators open up the IL code and munge the code so that it does the same thing but in a way that is much more difficult to understand. This prevents the casual developer from accessing the code and instead creates assemblies that are much more difficult and tedious to decompile into comprehensible code. Unless a program requires a high degree of algorithm security, these obfuscators are generally sufficient.

ADVANCED TOPIC CIL Output for HelloWorld.exe Listing 1.18 shows the CIL code created by ILDASM. Listing 1.18: Sample CIL Output // Microsoft (R) .NET Framework IL Disassembler. Version 4.0. 21006.1 // Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. // Metadata version: v4.0. 21006 .assembly extern mscorlib { .publickeytoken = (B7 7A 5C 56 19 34 E0 89 ) // .z\V.4.. .ver 4:0:0:0 } .assembly HelloWorld { .custom instance void [mscorlib]System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CompilationRelaxationsAttribute::. ctor(int32) = ( 01 00 08 00 00 00 00 00 ) .custom instance void [mscorlib]System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeCompatibilityAttribute::. ctor() = ( 01 00 01 00 54 02 16 57 72 61 70 4E 6F 6E 45 78 // ....T..WrapNonEx



63 65 70 74 69 6F 6E 54 68 72 6F 77 73 01 ) .hash algorithm 0x00008004 .ver 0:0:0:0 } .module HelloWorld.exe // MVID: {1C3495D1-2133-41D6-A820-B4731061F3F8} .imagebase 0x00400000 .file alignment 0x00000200 .stackreserve 0x00100000 .subsystem 0x0003 // WINDOWS_CUI .corflags 0x00000001 // ILONLY // Image base: 0x00160000

29

// ceptionThrows.

// ============ CLASS MEMBERS DECLARATION ================ .class private auto ansi beforefieldinit HelloWorld extends [mscorlib]System.Object { .method private hidebysig static void Main() cil managed { .entrypoint // Code size 13 (0xd) .maxstack 8 IL_0000: nop IL_0001: ldstr "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya." IL_0006: call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) IL_000b: nop IL_000c: ret } // end of method HelloWorld::Main .method public hidebysig specialname rtspecialname instance void .ctor() cil managed { // Code size 7 (0x7) .maxstack 8 IL_0000: ldarg.0 IL_0001: call instance void [mscorlib]System.Object::.ctor() IL_0006: ret } // end of method HelloWorld::.ctor } // end of class HelloWorld // ======================================================== // *********** DISASSEMBLY COMPLETE ***********************


30


The beginning of the listing is the manifest information. It includes not only the full name of the disassembled module (HelloWorld.exe), but also all the modules and assemblies it depends on, along with their version information. Perhaps the most interesting thing that you can glean from such a listing is how relatively easy it is to follow what the program is doing compared to trying to read and understand machine code (assembler). In the listing, an explicit reference to System.Console.WriteLine() appears. There is a lot of peripheral information to the CIL code listing, but if a developer wanted to understand the inner workings of a C# module (or any CLI-based program) without having access to the original source code, it would be relatively easy unless an obfuscator is used. In fact, several free tools are available (such as Lutz Roeder/Red Gate’s Reflector for .NET) that can decompile from CIL to C# automatically.

SUMMARY This chapter served as a rudimentary introduction to C#. It provided a means of familiarizing you with basic C# syntax. Because of C#’s similarity to C++ style languages, much of what I presented here might not have been new material. However, C# and managed code do have some distinct characteristics, such as compilation down to CIL. Although it is not unique, another key characteristic is that C# includes full support for object-oriented programming. Even things such as reading and writing data to the console are object-oriented. Object orientation is foundational to C#, and you will see this throughout this book. The next chapter examines the fundamental data types that are part of the C# language, and discusses how you can use these data types with operands to form expressions.


2 Data Types

F

1’S HelloWorld program, you got a feel for the C# language, its structure, basic syntax characteristics, and how to write the simplest of programs. This chapter continues to discuss the C# basics by investigating the fundamental C# types. ROM CHAPTER

Declaring Instantiating Assigning Using Strings as Arrays Explicit Cast Implicit Cast Without Casting

Value Types Reference Types

6 Arrays

5 Conversions

1 Numeric Types

Data Types

4 Categories of Types

Integer Types Floating-Point Types Decimal Type Literal Values

2 More Types

Boolean Type Character Type Strings

3 null and void

Until now, you have worked with only a few primitive data types, with little explanation. In C#, thousands of types exist, and you can combine types to create new types. A few types in C#, however, are relatively simple and are considered the building blocks of all other types. These types are predefined types or primitives. The C# language’s primitive types include eight integer types, two binary floating-point types for scientific calculations and one decimal float for financial calculations, one Boolean 31


32

Chapter 2: Data Types

type, and a character type. This chapter investigates these primitives, looks more closely at the string type, and introduces arrays.

Fundamental Numeric Types The basic numeric types in C# have keywords associated with them. These types include integer types, floating-point types, and a special floatingpoint type called decimal to store large numbers with no representation error.

Integer Types There are eight C# integer types. This variety allows you to select a data type large enough to hold its intended range of values without wasting resources. Table 2.1 lists each integer type. TABLE 2.1: Integer Types

Type

Size

Range (Inclusive)

BCL Name

Signed

sbyte

8 bits

–128 to 127

System.SByte

Yes

byte

8 bits

0 to 255

System.Byte

No

short

16 bits

–32,768 to 32,767

System.Int16

Yes

ushort

16 bits

0 to 65,535

System.UInt16

No

int

32 bits

–2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

System.Int32

Yes

uint

32 bits

0 to 4,294,967,295

System.UInt32

No

long

64 bits

–9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 9,223,372,036,854,775,807

System.Int64

Yes

ulong

64 bits

0 to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615

System.UInt64

No

Included in Table 2.1 (and in Tables 2.2 and 2.3) is a column for the full name of each type. All the fundamental types in C# have a short name and a full name. The full name corresponds to the type as it is named in the Base Class Library (BCL). This name is the same across all languages and it uniquely identifies the type within an assembly. Because of the fundamental


Fundamental Numeric Types

33

nature of primitive types, C# also supplies keywords as short names or abbreviations to the full names of fundamental types. From the compiler’s perspective, both names are exactly the same, producing exactly the same code. In fact, an examination of the resultant CIL code would provide no indication of which name was used.

Language Contrast: C++—short Data Type In C/C++, the short data type is an abbreviation for short int. In C#, short on its own is the actual data type.

Floating-Point Types (float, double) Floating-point numbers have varying degrees of precision. If you were to read the value of a floating-point number to be 0.1, it could very easily be 0.099999999999999999 or 0.1000000000000000001 or some other number very close to 0.1. Alternatively, a large number such as Avogadro’s number, 6.02E23, could be off by 9.9E9, which is something also exceptionally close to 6.02E23, considering its size. The accuracy of a floating-point number is in proportion to the magnitude of the number it represents. Accuracy, therefore, is determined by the number of significant digits, not by a fixed value such as ±0.01. In other words, absolute precision is a function of magnitude and significant digits; the number of significant digits tells you about the relative precision. C# supports the two floating-point number types listed in Table 2.2. TABLE 2.2: Floating-Point Types

Type

Size

Range (Inclusive)

BCL Name

Significant Digits

float

32 bits

±1.5 × 10—45 to ±3.4 × 1038

System.Single

7

double

64 bits

±5.0 × 10—324 to ±1.7 × 10308

System.Double

15–16

Binary numbers appear as base 10 (denary) numbers for human readability. The number of bits (binary digits) converts to 15 decimal digits,


34


with a remainder that contributes to a sixteenth decimal digit as expressed in Table 2.2. Specifically, numbers between 1.7 * 10307 and less than 1 * 10308 have only 15 significant digits. However, numbers ranging from 1 * 10308 to 1.7 * 10308 will have 16 significant digits. A similar range of significant digits occurs with the decimal type as well.

Decimal Type C# contains a numeric type with 128-bit precision (see Table 2.3). This is suitable for large and precise calculations, frequently financial calculations. TABLE 2.3: decimal Type

Type

Size

Range (Inclusive)

BCL Name

Significant Digits

decimal

128 bits

1.0 × 10—28 to approximately 7.9 × 1028

System.Decimal

28–29

Unlike floating-point numbers, the decimal type maintains exact accuracy for all denary numbers within its range. With the decimal type, therefore, a value of 0.1 is exactly 0.1. However, while the decimal type has greater precision than the floating-point types, it has a smaller range. Thus, conversions from floating-point types to the decimal type may result in overflow errors. Also, calculations with decimal are slightly slower.

ADVANCED TOPIC Floating-Point Types and Decimals Dissected Unless they are out of range, decimal numbers represent denary numbers exactly. In contrast, the floating-point representation of many denary numbers introduces a rounding error. This is analogous to how 1/3 is not exact in any finite number of decimal digits and 11/10 is not precise in any finite number of binary digits. In both cases, we end up with a rounding error of some kind. The difference between the decimal type and the C# floating-point types is that the base of a decimal type is a denary and the base of floating-point types is binary.


Fundamental Numeric Types

35

A decimal is represented by ±N * 10k where • N, the mantissa, is a positive integer represented by 96 bits. • k, the exponent, is given by -28 /help System.Console.WriteLine(result);


More Fundamental Types

47

TABLE 2.5: string Static Methods (Continued)

Statement

Example string option; ... // Case-insensitive string comparison int result = string.Compare( option, "/Help", true); // Display: // 0 if equal // < 0 if option < /help // > 0 if option > /help System.Console.WriteLine(result);

All of the methods in Table 2.5 are static. This means that, to call the method, it is necessary to prefix the method name (for example, Concat) with the type that contains the method (for example, string). As illustrated below, however, some of the methods in the string class are instance methods. Instead of prefixing the method with the type, instance methods use the variable name (or some other reference to an instance). Table 2.6 shows a few of these methods, along with an example. TABLE 2.6: string Methods

Statement

Example

bool StartsWith( string value) bool EndsWith( string value)

string lastName ... bool isPhd = lastName.EndsWith("Ph.D."); bool isDr = lastName.StartsWith("Dr.");

string ToLower() string ToUpper()

string severity = "warning"; // Display the severity in uppercase System.Console.WriteLine(severity.ToUpper());

string string string string

// Remove any whitespace at the start or end. username = username.Trim();

Trim() Trim(...) TrimEnd() TrimStart()

string Replace( string oldValue, string newValue)

string filename; ... // Remove ?'s altogether from the string filename = filename.Replace("?", "");;


48

Chapter 2: Data Types New Line

When writing out a new line, the exact characters for the new line will depend on the operating system on which you are executing. On Microsoft Windows platforms, the new line is the combination of both the ‘\r’ and ‘\n’ charters, while a single ‘\n’ is used on Unix. One way to overcome the discrepancy between platforms is simply to use System.Console. WriteLine() in order to output a blank line. Another approach, virtually essential when you are not outputting to the console yet still require execution on multiple platforms, is to use System.Environment.NewLine. In other words, System.Console.WriteLine("Hello World") and System. Console.Write("Hello World" + System.Environment.NewLine) are equivalent.

ADVANCED TOPIC C# Properties Technically, the Length member referred to in the following section is not actually a method, as indicated by the fact that there are no parentheses following its call. Length is a property of string, and C# syntax allows access to a property as though it were a member variable (known in C# as a field). In other words, a property has the behavior of special methods called setters and getters, but the syntax for accessing that behavior is that of a field. Examining the underlying CIL implementation of a property reveals that it compiles into two methods: set_ and get_. Neither of these, however, is directly accessible from C# code, except through the C# property constructs. See Chapter 5 for more detail on properties. String Length

To determine the length of a string you use a string member called Length. This particular member is called a read-only property. As such, it can’t be set, nor does calling it require any parameters. Listing 2.13 demonstrates how to use the Length property, and Output 2.11 shows the results.


More Fundamental Types

49

Listing 2.13: Using string’s Length Member class PalindromeLength { static void Main() { string palindrome; System.Console.Write("Enter a palindrome: "); palindrome = System.Console.ReadLine(); System.Console.WriteLine( "The palindrome, \"{0}\" is {1} characters.", palindrome, palindrome.Length); } }

OUTPUT 2.11: Enter a palindrome: Never odd or even The palindrome, "Never odd or even" is 17 characters.

The length for a string cannot be set directly; it is calculated from the number of characters in the string. Furthermore, the length of a string cannot change because a string is immutable. Strings Are Immutable

The key characteristic of the string type is the fact that it is immutable. A string variable can be assigned an entirely new value, but for performance reasons, there is no facility for modifying the contents of a string. It is not possible, therefore, to convert a string to all uppercase letters. It is trivial to create a new string that is composed of an uppercase version of the old string, but the old string is not modified in the process. Consider Listing 2.14 as an example. Listing 2.14: Error; string Is Immutable class Uppercase { static void Main() { string text; System.Console.Write("Enter text: "); text = System.Console.ReadLine();


50

Chapter 2: Data Types // UNEXPECTED: Does not convert text to uppercase text.ToUpper(); System.Console.WriteLine(text); } }

Output 2.12 shows the results of Listing 2.14. OUTPUT 2.12: Enter text: This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. This is a test of the emergency broadcast system.

At a glance, it would appear that text.ToUpper() should convert the characters within text to uppercase. However, strings are immutable and, therefore, text.ToUpper() will make no such modification. Instead, text.ToUpper() returns a new string that needs to be saved into a variable or passed to System.Console.WriteLine() directly. The corrected code is shown in Listing 2.15, and its output is shown in Output 2.13. Listing 2.15: Working with Strings class Uppercase { static void Main() { string text, uppercase; System.Console.Write("Enter text: "); text = System.Console.ReadLine(); // Return a new string in uppercase uppercase = text.ToUpper(); System.Console.WriteLine(uppercase); } }

OUTPUT 2.13: Enter text: This is a test of the emergency broadcast system. THIS IS A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY BROADCAST SYSTEM.

If the immutability of a string is ignored, mistakes similar to those shown in Listing 2.14 can occur with other string methods as well.


null and void

51

To actually change the value in text, assign the value from ToUpper() back into text, as in the following: text = text.ToUpper();

System.Text.StringBuilder If considerable string modification is needed, such as when constructing a long string in multiple steps, you should use the data type System. Text.StringBuilder rather than string. System.Text.StringBuilder includes methods such as Append(), AppendFormat(), Insert(), Remove(), and Replace(), some of which also appear on string. The key difference, however, is that on System.Text.StringBuilder these methods will modify the data in the StringBuilder itself, and will not simply return a new string.

null and void Two additional keywords relating to types are null and void. null is a value which indicates that the variable does not refer to any valid object. void is used to indicate the absence of a type or the absence of any value altogether.

null null can also be used as a type of string “literal.” null indicates that a vari-

able is set to nothing. Reference types, pointer types, and nullable value types can be assigned the value null. The only reference type covered so far in this book is string; Chapter 5 covers the topic of creating classes (which are reference types) in detail. For now, suffice it to say that a reference type contains a reference to a location in memory that is different from where the actual data resides. Code that sets a variable to null explicitly assigns the reference to point at nothing. In fact, it is even possible to check whether a reference type points to nothing. Listing 2.16 demonstrates assigning null to a string variable. Listing 2.16: Assigning null to a String static void Main() { string faxNumber;


52

Chapter 2: Data Types // ... // Clear the value of faxNumber. faxNumber = null; // ... }

It is important to note that assigning the value null to a reference type is distinct from not assigning it at all. In other words, a variable that has been assigned null has still been set, and a variable with no assignment has not been set and therefore will often cause a compile error if used prior to assignment. Assigning the value null to a string is distinctly different from assigning an empty string, "". null indicates that the variable has no value. "" indicates that there is a value: an empty string. This type of distinction can be quite useful. For example, the programming logic could interpret a faxNumber of null to mean that the fax number is unknown, while a faxNumber value of "" could indicate that there is no fax number.

The void Nontype Sometimes the C# syntax requires a data type to be specified but no data is passed. For example, if no return from a method is needed C# allows the use of void to be specified as the data type instead. The declaration of Main within the HelloWorld program is an example. Under these circumstances, the data type to specify is void. The use of void as the return type indicates that the method is not returning any data and tells the compiler not to expect a value. void is not a data type per se, but rather an identification of the fact that there is no data type.

Language Contrast: C++—void Is a Data Type In C++, void is a data type commonly used as void**. In C#, void is not considered a data type in the same way. Rather, it is used to identify that a method does not return a value.


null and void

53

Language Contrast: Visual Basic—Returning void Is Like Defining a Subroutine The Visual Basic equivalent of returning a void in C# is to define a subroutine (Sub/End Sub) rather than a function that returns a value.

ADVANCED TOPIC Implicitly Typed Local Variables Additionally, C# 3.0 includes a contextual keyword, var, for declaring an implicitly typed local variable. As long as the code initializes a variable at declaration time with an unambiguous type, C# 3.0 allows for the variable data type to be implied. Instead of explicitly specifying the data type, an implicitly typed local variable is declared with the contextual keyword var, as shown in Listing 2.17. Listing 2.17: Working with Strings class Uppercase { static void Main() { System.Console.Write("Enter text: "); var text = System.Console.ReadLine(); // Return a new string in uppercase var uppercase = text.ToUpper(); System.Console.WriteLine(uppercase); } }

This listing is different from Listing 2.15 in two ways. First, rather than using the explicit data type string for the declaration, Listing 2.17 uses var. The resultant CIL code is identical to using string explicitly. However, var indicates to the compiler that it should determine the data type from the value (System.Console.ReadLine()) that is assigned within the declaration.


54


Second, the variables text and uppercase are not declared without assignment at declaration time. To do so would result in a compile error. As mentioned earlier, via assignment the compiler retrieves the data type of the right-hand side expression and declares the variable accordingly, just as it would if the programmer specified the type explicitly. Although using var rather than the explicit data type is allowed, consider avoiding such use when the data type is known—for example, use string for the declaration of text and uppercase. Not only does this make the code more understandable, but it also verifies that the data type returned by the right-hand side expression is the type expected. When using a var declared variable, the right-hand side data type should be obvious; if it isn’t, using the var declaration should be avoided. var support was added to the language in C# 3.0 to support anonymous types. Anonymous types are data types that are declared on the fly within a method, rather than through explicit class definitions, as outlined in Chapter 14 (see Listing 2.18). Listing 2.18: Implicit Local Variables with Anonymous Types class Program { static void Main() { var patent1 = new { Title = "Bifocals", YearOfPublication = "1784" }; var patent2 = new { Title = "Phonograph", YearOfPublication = "1877" }; System.Console.WriteLine("{0} ({1})", patent1.Title, patent1.YearOfPublication); System.Console.WriteLine("{0} ({1})", patent2.Title, patent1.YearOfPublication); } }

The corresponding output is shown in Output 2.14. OUTPUT 2.14: Bifocals (1784) Phonograph (1784)


Categories of Types

55

Listing 2.18 demonstrates the anonymous type assignment to an implicitly typed (var) local variable. This type of operation provides critical functionality with C# 3.0 support for joining (associating) data types or reducing the size of a particular type down to fewer data elements.

Categories of Types All types fall into two categories: value types and reference types. The differences between the types in each category stem from how they are copied: Value type data is always copied by value, while reference type data is always copied by reference.

Value Types With the exception of string, all the predefined types in the book so far are value types. Value types contain the value directly. In other words, the variable refers to the same location in memory where the value is stored. Because of this, when a different variable is assigned the same value, a memory copy of the original variable’s value is made to the location of the new variable. A second variable of the same value type cannot refer to the same location in memory as the first variable. So changing the value of the first variable will not affect the value in the second. Figure 2.1 demonstrates this. number1 refers to a particular location in memory that contains the value 42. After assigning number1 to number2, both variables will contain the value 42. However, modifying either variable’s value will not affect the other. Similarly, passing a value type to a method such as Console.WriteLine() will also result in a memory copy, and any changes to the parameter

//...

int number1 char letter

42 'A'

float pi int number2

3.14F 42

int number1 = 42; char letter = 'A'; float pi = 3.14F; int number2 = number1; //...

Stack

Figure 2.1: Value Types Contain the Data Directly


56


inside the method will not affect the original value within the calling function. Since value types require a memory copy, they generally should be defined to consume a small amount of memory (less than 16 bytes).

Reference Types Reference types and the variables that refer to them point to the data storage location. Reference types store the reference where the data is located instead of storing the data directly. Therefore, to access the data the runtime will read the memory location out of the variable and then jump to the location in memory that contains the data. The memory area of the data a reference type points to is the heap (see Figure 2.2).

42

int number1 char letter float pi

//...

'A' 3.14F

int number1 = 42; char letter = 'A';

int number2 string text

42 0x00A61234

float pi = 3.14F;

StringReader reader

0x00A612C0

//...

int number2 = number1;

using System.IO;

00 66 00 20 00 00 66 00 72 00 6F 00 6D 00 20

Heap

9C 00 A6 00 00 00 00

11 00 00 33 00 00 00

C9 00 00 00 00 00 00

78 34 00 00 00 00 00

00 12 00 00 00 00 00

//... string text = "A cacophony of ramblings from my potpourri of notes"; StringReader reader = new StringReader(text); //...

D4 4C C7 78 02 41 00 6F 00 79 00 72

00 61 00 6F 00 66 00

20 00 70 00 20 00 61

00 63 00 6E 00 20 00

63 00 68 00 6F 00 6D

Figure 2.2: Reference Types Point to the Heap


Nullable Modifier

57

A reference type does not require the same memory copy of the data that a value type does, resulting in circumstances when it is more efficient. When assigning one reference type variable to another reference type variable, only a memory copy of the address occurs, and as such, the memory copy required by a reference type is always the size of the address itself. (A 32-bit processor will copy 32 bits and a 64-bit processor will copy 64 bits, and so on.) Obviously, not copying the data would be faster than a value type’s behavior if the latter’s data size is large. Since reference types copy only the address of the data, two different variables can point to the same data. Furthermore, changing the data through one variable will change the data for the other variable as well. This happens both for assignment and for method calls. Therefore, a method can affect the data of a reference type back at the caller. For this reason, a key determinant factor in the choice between defining a reference type or a value type is whether the object is logically like an immutable value of fixed size, and therefore a value type. Besides string and any custom classes such as Program, all types discussed so far are value types. However, most types are reference types. Although it is possible to define custom value types, it is relatively rare to do so in comparison to the number of custom reference types.

Nullable Modifier As I pointed out earlier, value types cannot be assigned null because, by definition, they can’t contain references, including references to nothing. However, this presents a problem in the real world, where values are missing. When specifying a count, for example, what do you enter if the count is unknown? One possible solution is to designate a “magic” value, such as 0 or int.MaxValue, but these are valid integers. Rather, it is desirable to assign null to the value type because this is not a valid integer. To declare variables that can store null you use the nullable modifier, ?. This feature, which started with C# 2.0, appears in Listing 2.19. Listing 2.19: Using the Nullable Modifier static void Main() { int? count = null;


58

Chapter 2: Data Types do { // ... } while(count == null); }

Assigning null to value types is especially attractive in database programming. Frequently, value type columns in database tables allow nulls. Retrieving such columns and assigning them to corresponding fields within C# code is problematic, unless the fields can contain null as well. Fortunately, the nullable modifier is designed to handle such a scenario specifically.

Conversions between Data Types Given the thousands of types predefined in the various CLI implementations and the unlimited number of types that code can define, it is important that types support conversion from one to another where it makes sense. The most common operation that results in a conversion is casting. Consider the conversion between two numerical types: converting from a variable of type long to a variable of type int. A long type can contain values as large as 9,223,372,036,854,775,808; however, the maximum size of an int is 2,147,483,647. As such, that conversion could result in a loss of data—for example, if the variable of type long contains a value greater than the maximum size of an int. Any conversion that could result in a loss of magnitude or an exception because the conversion failed requires an explicit cast. Conversely, a casting operation that will not lose magnitude and will not throw an exception regardless of the operand types is an implicit conversion.

Explicit Cast In C#, you cast using the cast operator. By specifying the type you would like the variable converted to within parentheses, you acknowledge that if an explicit cast is occurring, there may be a loss of precision and data, or an exception may result. The code in Listing 2.20 converts a long to an int and explicitly tells the system to attempt the operation.


Conversions between Data Types

59

Listing 2.20: Explicit Cast Example long longNumber = 50918309109; int intNumber = (int) longNumber; cast operator

With the cast operator, the programmer essentially says to the compiler, “Trust me, I know what I am doing. I know that the conversion could possibly not fit, but I am willing to take the chance.” Making such a choice will cause the compiler to allow the conversion. However, with an explicit conversion, there is still a chance that an error, in the form of an exception, might occur while executing if the data does not convert successfully. It is, therefore, the programmer’s responsibility to ensure the data will successfully convert, or else to provide the necessary error-handling code when it doesn’t.

ADVANCED TOPIC Checked and Unchecked Conversions C# provides special keywords for marking a code block to indicate what should happen if the target data type is too small to contain the assigned data. By default, if the target data type cannot contain the assigned data, then the data will overflow truncate during assignment. For an example, see Listing 2.21. Listing 2.21: Overflowing an Integer Value public class Program { public static void Main() { // int.MaxValue equals 2147483647 int n = int.MaxValue; n = n + 1 ; System.Console.WriteLine(n); } }


60


Output 2.15 shows the results. OUTPUT 2.15: -2147483648

Listing 2.21 writes the value -2147483648 to the console. However, placing the code within a checked block, or using the checked option when running the compiler, will cause the runtime to throw an exception of type System.OverflowException. The syntax for a checked block uses the checked keyword, as shown in Listing 2.22. Listing 2.22: A Checked Block Example public class Program { public static void Main() { checked { // int.MaxValue equals 2147483647 int n = int.MaxValue; n = n + 1 ; System.Console.WriteLine(n); } } }

Output 2.16 shows the results. OUTPUT 2.16: Unhandled Exception: System.OverflowException: Arithmetic operation resulted in an overflow at Program.Main() in ...Program.cs:line 12

The result is that an exception is thrown if, within the checked block, an overflow assignment occurs at runtime. The C# compiler provides a command-line option for changing the default checked behavior from unchecked to checked. C# also supports an unchecked block that overflows the data instead of throwing an exception for assignments within the block (see Listing 2.23).



61

Listing 2.23: An Unchecked Block Example using System; public class Program { public static void Main() { unchecked { // int.MaxValue equals 2147483647 int n = int.MaxValue; n = n + 1 ; System.Console.WriteLine(n); } } }

Output 2.17 shows the results. OUTPUT 2.17: -2147483648

Even if the checked option is on during compilation, the unchecked keyword in the preceding code will prevent the runtime from throwing an exception during execution. You cannot convert any type to any other type simply because you designate the conversion explicitly using the cast operator. The compiler will still check that the operation is valid. For example, you cannot convert a long to a bool. No such cast operator is defined, and therefore, the compiler does not allow such a cast.

Language Contrast: Converting Numbers to Booleans It may be surprising that there is no valid cast from a numeric type to a Boolean type, since this is common in many other languages. The reason no such conversion exists in C# is to avoid any ambiguity, such as whether –1 corresponds to true or false. More importantly, as you will see in the next chapter, this also reduces the chance of using the assignment operator in place of the equality operator (avoiding if(x=42){...} when if(x==42){...} was intended, for example).


62


Implicit Conversion In other instances, such as going from an int type to a long type, there is no loss of precision and there will be no fundamental change in the value of the type. In these cases, code needs only to specify the assignment operator and the conversion is implicit. In other words, the compiler is able to determine that such a conversion will work correctly. The code in Listing 2.24 converts from an int to a long by simply using the assignment operator. Listing 2.24: Not Using the Cast Operator for an Implicit Cast int intNumber = 31416; long longNumber = intNumber;

Even when no explicit cast operator is required (because an implicit conversion is allowed), it is still possible to include the cast operator (see Listing 2.25). Listing 2.25: Using the Cast Operator for an Implicit Cast int intNumber = 31416; long longNumber = (long) intNumber;

Type Conversion without Casting No conversion is defined from a string to a numeric type, so methods such as Parse() are required. Each numeric data type includes a Parse() function that enables conversion from a string to the corresponding numeric type. Listing 2.26 demonstrates this call. Listing 2.26: Using int.Parse() to Convert a string to a Numeric Data Type string text = "9.11E-31"; float kgElectronMass = float.Parse(text);

Another special type is available for converting one type to the next. The type is System.Convert and an example of its use appears in Listing 2.27. Listing 2.27: Type Conversion Using System.Convert string middleCText = "278.4375"; double middleC = System.Convert.ToDouble(middleCText); bool boolean = System.Convert.ToBoolean(middleC);



63

System.Convert supports only a predefined number of types and it is not

extensible. It allows conversion from any primitive type (bool, char, sbyte, short, int, long, ushort, uint, ulong, float, double, decimal, DateTime, and string) to any other primitive type. Furthermore, all types support a ToString() method that can be used to provide a string representation of a type. Listing 2.28 demonstrates how to use this method. The resultant output is shown in Output 2.18. Listing 2.28: Using ToString() to Convert to a string bool boolean = true; string text = boolean.ToString(); // Display "True" System.Console.WriteLine(text);

OUTPUT 2.18: True

For the majority of types, the ToString() method will return the name of the data type rather than a string representation of the data. The string representation is returned only if the type has an explicit implementation of ToString(). One last point to make is that it is possible to code custom conversion methods, and many such methods are available for classes in the runtime.

ADVANCED TOPIC TryParse()

Starting with C# 2.0 (.NET 2.0), all the numeric primitive types include a static TryParse() method. (In C# 1.0, only double includes such a method.) This method is very similar to the Parse() method, except that instead of throwing an exception if the conversion fails, the TryParse() method returns false, as demonstrated in Listing 2.29. Listing 2.29: Using TryParse() in Place of an Invalid Cast Exception double number; string input;


64

Chapter 2: Data Types System.Console.Write("Enter a number: "); input = System.Console.ReadLine(); if (double.TryParse(input, out number)) { // Converted correctly, now use number // ... } else { System.Console.WriteLine( "The text entered was not a valid number."); }

Output 2.19 shows the results of Listing 2.27. OUTPUT 2.19: Enter a number: forty-two The text entered was not a valid number.

The resultant value the code parses from the input string is returned via an out parameter—in this case, number. The key difference between Parse() and TryParse() is the fact that TryParse() won’t throw an exception if it fails. Frequently, the conversion from a string to a numeric type depends on a user entering the text. It is expected, in such scenarios, that the user will enter invalid data that will not parse successfully. By using TryParse() rather than Parse(), you can avoid throwing exceptions in expected situations. (The expected situation in this case is that the user will enter invalid data.)

Arrays One particular aspect of variable declaration that Chapter 1 didn’t cover is array declaration. With array declaration, you can store multiple items of the same type using a single variable and still access them individually using the index when required. In C#, the array index starts at zero. Therefore, arrays in C# are zero based.


Arrays

65

BEGINNER TOPIC Arrays Arrays provide a means of declaring a collection of data items that are of the same type using a single variable. Each item within the array is uniquely designated using an integer value called the index. The first item in a C# array is accessed using index 0. Programmers should be careful to specify an index value that is less than the array size. Since C# arrays are zero based, the index for the last element in an array is one less than the total number of items in the array. For beginners, it is helpful sometimes to think of the index as an offset. The first item is zero away from the start of the array. The second item is one away from the start of the array—and so on. Declaring an Array In C#, you declare arrays using square brackets. First, you specify the element type of the array, followed by open and closed square brackets; then you enter the name of the variable. Listing 2.30 declares a variable called languages to be an array of strings. Listing 2.30: Declaring an Array string[] languages;

Obviously, the first part of the array identifies the data type of the elements within the array. The square brackets that are part of the declaration identify the rank, or the number of dimensions, for the array; in this case it is an array of rank one. These two pieces form the data type for the variable languages.

Language Contrast: C++ and Java—Array Declaration The square brackets for an array in C# appear immediately following the data type instead of after the variable declaration. This keeps all the type information together instead of splitting it up both before and after the identifier, as occurs in C++ and Java.


66


Listing 2.30 defines an array with a rank of one. Commas within the square brackets define additional dimensions. Listing 2.31, for example, defines a two-dimensional array of cells for a game of chess or tic-tac-toe. Listing 2.31: Declaring a Two-Dimensional Array // | | // ---+---+--// | | // ---+---+--// | | int[,] cells;

In Listing 2.29, the array has a rank of two. The first dimension could correspond to cells going across and the second dimension represents cells going down. Additional dimensions are added, with additional commas, and the total rank is one more than the number of commas. Note that the number of items that occur for a particular dimension is not part of the variable declaration. This is specified when creating (instantiating) the array and allocating space for each element.

Instantiating and Assigning Arrays Once an array is declared, you can immediately fill its values using a comma-delimited list of items enclosed within a pair of curly braces. Listing 2.32 declares an array of strings and then assigns the names of nine languages within curly braces. Listing 2.32: Array Declaration with Assignment string[] languages = { "C#", "COBOL", "Java", "C++", "Visual Basic", "Pascal", "Fortran", "Lisp", "J#"};

The first item in the comma-delimited list becomes the first item in the array; the second item in the list becomes the second item in the array, and so on. The curly brackets are the notation for defining an array literal. The assignment syntax shown in Listing 2.32 is available only if you declare and assign the value within one statement. To assign the value after declaration requires the use of the keyword new as shown in Listing 2.33.


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Listing 2.33: Array Assignment Following Declaration string[] languages; languages = new string[]{"C#", "COBOL", "Java", "C++", "Visual Basic", "Pascal", "Fortran", "Lisp", "J#" };

Starting in C# 3.0, specifying the data type of the array (string) following new became optional as long as the data type of items within the array was compatible—the square brackets are still required. C# also allows use of the new keyword as part of the declaration statement, so it allows the assignment and the declaration shown in Listing 2.34. Listing 2.34: Array Assignment with new during Declaration string[] languages = new string[]{ "C#", "COBOL", "Java", "C++", "Visual Basic", "Pascal", "Fortran", "Lisp", "J#"};

The use of the new keyword tells the runtime to allocate memory for the data type. It instructs the runtime to instantiate the data type—in this case, an array. Whenever you use the new keyword as part of an array assignment, you may also specify the size of the array within the square brackets. Listing 2.35 demonstrates this syntax. Listing 2.35: Declaration and Assignment with the new Keyword string[] languages = new string[9]{ "C#", "COBOL", "Java", "C++", "Visual Basic", "Pascal", "Fortran", "Lisp", "J#"};

The array size in the initialization statement and the number of elements contained within the curly braces must match. Furthermore, it is possible to assign an array but not specify the initial values of the array, as demonstrated in Listing 2.36.


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Chapter 2: Data Types Listing 2.36: Assigning without Literal Values string[] languages = new string[9];

Assigning an array but not initializing the initial values will still initialize each element. The runtime initializes elements to their default values, as follows. • Reference types (such as string) are initialized to null. • Numeric types are initialized to zero. • bool is initialized to false. • char is initialized to '\0'.

Nonprimitive value types are recursively initialized by initializing each of their fields to their default values. As a result, it is not necessary to individually assign each element of an array before using it. In C# 2.0, it is possible to use the default() operator to determine the default value of a data type. default() takes a data type as a parameter. default(int), for example, returns 0 and default(char) returns \0. Because the array size is not included as part of the variable declaration, it is possible to specify the size at runtime. For example, Listing 2.37 creates an array based on the size specified in the Console.ReadLine() call. Listing 2.37: Defining the Array Size at Runtime string[] groceryList; System.Console.Write("How many items on the list? "); int size = int.Parse(System.Console.ReadLine()); groceryList = new string[size]; // ...

C# initializes multidimensional arrays similarly. A comma separates the size of each rank. Listing 2.38 initializes a tic-tac-toe board with no moves. Listing 2.38: Declaring a Two-Dimensional Array int[,] cells = int[3,3];


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Initializing a tic-tac-toe board with a specific position instead could be done as shown in Listing 2.39. Listing 2.39: Initializing a Two-Dimensional Array of Integers int[,] cells = {1, 0, {1, 2, {1, 2, };

{ 2}, 0}, 1}

The initialization follows the pattern in which there is an array of three elements of type int[], and each element has the same size; in this example, the size is 3. Note that the dimension of each int[] element must be identical. The declaration shown in Listing 2.40, therefore, is not valid. Listing 2.40: A Multidimensional Array with Inconsistent Size, Causing an Error // ERROR: Each dimension must be consistently sized. int[,] cells = { {1, 0, 2, 0}, {1, 2, 0}, {1, 2} {1} };

Representing tic-tac-toe does not require an integer in each position. One alternative is a separate virtual board for each player, with each board containing a bool that indicates which positions the players selected. Listing 2.41 corresponds to a three-dimensional board. Listing 2.41: Initializing a Three-Dimensional Array bool[,,] cells; cells = new bool[2,3,3] { // Player 1 moves { {true, false, false}, {true, false, false}, {true, false, true} },

// Player 2 { {false, {false, {false,

moves false, true}, true, false}, true, true} }

// X | | // ---+---+--// X | | // ---+---+--// X | | X // | | O // ---+---+--// | O | // ---+---+--// | O |

};


70


In this example, the board is initialized and the size of each rank is explicitly identified. In addition to identifying the size as part of the new expression, the literal values for the array are provided. The literal values of type bool[,,] are broken into two arrays of type bool[,], size 3x3. Each two-dimensional array is composed of three bool arrays, size 3. As already mentioned, each dimension in a multidimensional array must be consistently sized. However, it is also possible to define a jagged array, which is an array of arrays. Jagged array syntax is slightly different from that of a multidimensional array, and furthermore, jagged arrays do not need to be consistently sized. Therefore, it is possible to initialize a jagged array as shown in Listing 2.42. Listing 2.42: Initializing a Jagged Array int[][]cells = { new int[]{1, 0, 2, 0}, new int[]{1, 2, 0}, new int[]{1, 2}, new int[]{1} };

A jagged array doesn’t use a comma to identify a new dimension. Rather, a jagged array defines an array of arrays. In Listing 2.42, [] is placed after the data type int[], thereby declaring an array of type int[]. Notice that a jagged array requires an array instance (or null) for each internal array. In this example, you use new to instantiate the internal element of the jagged arrays. Leaving out the instantiation would cause a compile error.

Using an Array You access a specific item in an array using the square bracket notation, known as the array accessor. To retrieve the first item from an array, you specify zero as the index. In Listing 2.43, the value of the fifth item (using the index 4 because the first item is index 0) in the languages variable is stored in the variable language. Listing 2.43: Declaring and Accessing an Array string[] languages = new string[9]{ "C#", "COBOL", "Java", "C++", "Visual Basic", "Pascal",


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"Fortran", "Lisp", "J#"}; // Retrieve 3rd item in languages array (Java) string language = languages[4];

The square bracket notation is also used to store data into an array. Listing 2.44 switches the order of "C++" and "Java". Listing 2.44: Swapping Data between Positions in an Array string[] languages = new string[9]{ "C#", "COBOL", "Java", "C++", "Visual Basic", "Pascal", "Fortran", "Lisp", "J#"}; // Save "C++" to variable called language. string language = languages[3]; // Assign "Java" to the C++ position. languages[3] = languages[2]; // Assign language to location of "Java". languages[2] = language;

For multidimensional arrays, an element is identified with an index for each dimension, as shown in Listing 2.45. Listing 2.45: Initializing a Two-Dimensional Array of Integers int[,] cells = { {1, 0, 2}, {0, 2, 0}, {1, 2, 1} }; // Set the winning tic-tac-toe move to be player 1. cells[1,0] = 1;

Jagged array element assignment is slightly different because it is consistent with the jagged array declaration. The first element is an array within the array of arrays. The second index specifies the item within the selected array element (see Listing 2.46). Listing 2.46: Declaring a Jagged Array int[][] cells = { new int[]{1, 0, 2}, new int[]{0, 2, 0}, new int[]{1, 2, 1} }; cells[1][0] = 1; // ...


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Chapter 2: Data Types Length

You can obtain the length of an array, as shown in Listing 2.47. Listing 2.47: Retrieving the Length of an Array Console.WriteLine("There are {0} languages in the array.", languages.Length);

Arrays have a fixed length; they are bound such that the length cannot be changed without re-creating the array. Furthermore, overstepping the bounds (or length) of the array will cause the runtime to report an error. This can occur by accessing (either retrieving or assigning) the array with an index for which no element exists in the array. Such an error frequently occurs when you use the array length as an index into the array, as shown in Listing 2.48. Listing 2.48: Accessing Outside the Bounds of an Array, Throwing an Exception string languages = new string[9]; ... // RUNTIME ERROR: index out of bounds – should // be 8 for the last element languages[4] = languages[9];

NOTE The Length member returns the number of items in the array, not the highest index. The Length member for the languages variable is 9, but the highest index for the languages variable is 8, because that is how far it is from the start.

Language Contrast: C++—Buffer Overflow Bugs Unmanaged C++ does not always check whether you overstep the bounds on an array. Not only can this be difficult to debug, but making this mistake can also result in a potential security error called a buffer overrun. In contrast, the Common Language Runtime protects all C# (and Managed C++) code from overstepping array bounds, virtually eliminating the possibility of a buffer overrun issue in managed code.


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It is a good practice to use Length in place of the hardcoded array size. To use Length as an index, for example, it is necessary to subtract 1 to avoid an out-of-bounds error (see Listing 2.49). Listing 2.49: Using Length - 1 in the Array Index string languages = new string[9]; ... languages[4] = languages[languages.Length - 1];

To avoid overstepping the bounds on an array use a length check to verify it has a length greater than 0 as well as using Length – 1 in place of a hardcoded value when accessing the last item in the array (see Listing 2.49). Length returns the total number of elements in an array. Therefore, if you had a multidimensional array such as bool cells[,,] of size 2•3•3, Length would return the total number of elements, 18. For a jagged array, Length returns the number of elements in the first array—a jagged array is an array of arrays, so Length evaluates only the outside, containing array and returns its element count, regardless of what is inside the internal arrays. More Array Methods

Arrays include additional methods for manipulating the elements within the array. These include Sort(), BinarySearch(), Reverse(), and Clear() (see Listing 2.50). Listing 2.50: Additional Array Methods class ProgrammingLanguages { static void Main() { string[] languages = new string[]{ "C#", "COBOL", "Java", "C++", "Visual Basic", "Pascal", "Fortran", "Lisp", "J#"}; System.Array.Sort(languages); searchString = "COBOL";


74

Chapter 2: Data Types index = System.Array.BinarySearch( languages, searchString); System.Console.WriteLine( "The wave of the future, {0}, is at index {1}.", searchString, index); System.Console.WriteLine(); System.Console.WriteLine("{0,-20}{1,-20}", "First Element", "Last Element"); System.Console.WriteLine("{0,-20}{1,-20}", "-------------", "------------"); System.Console.WriteLine("{0,-20}{1,-20}", languages[0], languages[languages.Length-1]); System.Array.Reverse(languages); System.Console.WriteLine("{0,-20}{1,-20}", languages[0], languages[languages.Length-1]); // Note this does not remove all items from the array. // Rather it sets each item to the type’s default value. System.Array.Clear(languages, 0, languages.Length); System.Console.WriteLine("{0,-20}{1,-20}", languages[0], languages[languages.Length-1]); System.Console.WriteLine( "After clearing, the array size is: {0}", languages.Length); } }

The results of Listing 2.50 are shown in Output 2.20. OUTPUT 2.20: The wave of the future, COBOL, is at index 1. First Element ------------C# Visual Basic

Last Element -----------Visual Basic C#

After clearing, the array size is: 9

Access to these methods is on the System.Array class. For the most part, using these methods is self-explanatory, except for two noteworthy items.


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• Before using the BinarySearch() method, it is important to sort the

array. If values are not sorted in increasing order, then the incorrect index may be returned. If the search element does not exist, then the value returned is negative. (Using the complement operator, ~index, returns the first index, if any, that is larger than the searched value.) • The Clear() method does not remove elements of the array and does

not set the length to zero. The array size is fixed and cannot be modified. Therefore, the Clear() method sets each element in the array to its default value (false, 0, or null). This explains why Console.WriteLine() creates a blank line when writing out the array after Clear() is called.

Language Contrast: Visual Basic—Redimensioning Arrays Visual Basic includes a Redim statement for changing the number of items in an array. Although there is no equivalent C# specific keyword, there is a method available in .NET 2.0 that will re-create the array and then copy all the elements over to the new array. The method is called System. Array.Resize.

Array Instance Methods

Like strings, arrays have instance members that are accessed not from the data type, but directly from the variable. Length is an example of an instance member because access to Length is through the array variable, not the class. Other significant instance members are GetLength(), Rank, and Clone(). Retrieving the length of a particular dimension does not require the Length property. To retrieve the size of a particular rank, an array includes a GetLength() instance method. When calling this method, it is necessary to specify the rank whose length will be returned (see Listing 2.51).


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Chapter 2: Data Types Listing 2.51: Retrieving a Particular Dimension’s Size bool[,,] cells; cells = new bool[2,3,3]; System.Console.WriteLine(cells.GetLength(0));

// Displays 2

The results of Listing 2.51 appear in Output 2.21. OUTPUT 2.21: 2

Listing 2.51 displays 2 because this is the number of elements in the first dimension. It is also possible to retrieve the entire array’s rank by accessing the array’s Rank member. cells.Rank, for example, will return 3. By default, assigning one array variable to another copies only the array reference, not the individual elements of the array. To make an entirely new copy of the array, use the array’s Clone() method. The Clone() method will return a copy of the array; changing any of the members of this new array will not affect the members of the original array.

Strings as Arrays Variables of type string are accessible like an array of characters. For example, to retrieve the fourth character of a string called palindrome you can call palindrome[3]. Note, however, that because strings are immutable, it is not possible to assign particular characters within a string. C#, therefore, would not allow palindrome[3]='a', where palindrome is declared as a string. Listing 2.52 uses the array accessor to determine whether an argument on the command line is an option, where an option is identified by a dash as the first character. Listing 2.52: Looking for Command-Line Options string[] args; ... if(args[0][0]=='-') { //This parameter is an option }


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This snippet uses the if statement, which is covered in Chapter 3. In addition, it presents an interesting example because you use the array accessor to retrieve the first element in the array of strings, args. Following the first array accessor is a second one, this time to retrieve the first character of the string. The code, therefore, is equivalent to that shown in Listing 2.53. Listing 2.53: Looking for Command-Line Options (Simplified) string[] args; ... string arg = args[0]; if(arg[0] == '-') { //This parameter is an option }

Not only can string characters be accessed individually using the array accessor, but it is also possible to retrieve the entire string as an array of characters using the string’s ToCharArray() method. Using this method, you could reverse the string using the System.Array.Reverse() method, as demonstrated in Listing 2.54, which determines whether a string is a palindrome. Listing 2.54: Reversing a String class Palindrome { static void Main() { string reverse, palindrome; char[] temp; System.Console.Write("Enter a palindrome: "); palindrome = System.Console.ReadLine(); // Remove spaces and convert to lowercase reverse = palindrome.Replace(" ", ""); reverse = reverse.ToLower(); // Convert to an array temp = reverse.ToCharArray(); // Reverse the array System.Array.Reverse(temp);


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Chapter 2: Data Types // Convert the array back to a string and // check if reverse string is the same. if(reverse == new string(temp)) { System.Console.WriteLine("\"{0}\" is a palindrome.", palindrome); } else { System.Console.WriteLine( "\"{0}\" is NOT a palindrome.", palindrome); } } }

The results of Listing 2.54 appear in Output 2.22. OUTPUT 2.22: Enter a palindrome: NeverOddOrEven "NeverOddOrEven" is a palindrome.

This example uses the new keyword; this time, it creates a new string from the reversed array of characters.

Common Errors This section introduced the three different types of arrays: single-dimension, multidimensional, and jagged arrays. Several rules and idiosyncrasies govern array declaration and use. Table 2.7 points out some of the most common errors and helps solidify the rules. Readers should consider reviewing the code in the Common Mistake column first (without looking at the Error Description and Corrected Code columns) as a way of verifying their understanding of arrays and their syntax.


TABLE 2.7: Common Array Coding Errors

Common Mistake

Error Description

Corrected Code

int numbers[];

The square braces for declaring an array appear after the data type, not after the variable identifier.

int[] numbers;

int[] numbers; numbers = {42, 84, 168 };

When assigning an array after declaration, it is necessary to use the new keyword and then specify the data type.

int[] numbers; numbers = new int[]{ 42, 84, 168 }

int[3] numbers = { 42, 84, 168 };

It is not possible to specify the array size as part of the variable declaration.

int[] numbers = { 42, 84, 168 };

int[] numbers = new int[];

The array size is required at initialization time unless an array literal is provided.

int[] numbers = new int[3];

int[] numbers = new int[3]{}

The array size is specified as 3, but there are no elements in the array literal. The array size must match the number of elements in the array literal.

int[] numbers = new int[3] { 42, 84, 168 };

int[] numbers = new int[3]; Console.WriteLine( numbers[3]);

Array indexes start at zero. Therefore, the last item is one less than the array size. (Note that this is a runtime error, not a compile-time error.)

int[] numbers = new int[3]; Console.WriteLine( numbers[2]); Continues

79 From the Library of Wow! eBook

80 TABLE 2.7: Common Array Coding Errors (Continued)

Common Mistake

Error Description

Corrected Code

int[] numbers = new int[3]; numbers[numbers.Length] = 42;

Same as previous error: 1 needs to be subtracted from the Length to access the last element. (Note that this is a runtime error, not a compile-time error.)

int[] numbers = new int[3]; numbers[numbers.Length-1] = 42;

int[] numbers; Console.WriteLine( numbers[0]);

numbers has not yet been assigned an

int[] numbers = {42, 84}; Console.WriteLine( numbers[0]);

int[,] numbers = { {42}, {84, 42} };

Multidimensional arrays must be structured consistently.

int[,] numbers = { {42, 168}, {84, 42} };

int[][] numbers = { {42, 84}, {84, 42} };

Jagged arrays require instantiated arrays to be specified for the arrays within the array.

int[][] numbers = { new int[]{42, 84}, new int[]{84, 42} };

instantiated array, and therefore, it cannot be accessed.


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81

SUMMARY Even for experienced programmers, C# introduces several new programming constructs. For example, as part of the section on data types, this chapter covered the type decimal that can be used accurately for financial calculations. In addition, the chapter introduced the fact that the Boolean type, bool, does not convert implicitly to an integer, thereby preventing the mistaken use of the assignment operator in a conditional expression. Other unique characteristics of C# from many of its predecessors are the @ verbatim string qualifier that forces a string to ignore the escape character and the fact that the string data type is immutable. To convert data types between each other C# includes the cast operator in both an explicit and an implicit form. In the following chapters, you will learn how to define both cast operators on custom types. This chapter closed with coverage of C# syntax for arrays, along with the various means of manipulating arrays. For many developers, the syntax can become rather daunting at first, so the section included a list of the common errors associated with coding arrays. The next chapter looks at expressions and control flow statements. The if statement, which appeared a few times toward the end of this chapter, is discussed as well.




3 Operators and Control Flow

I

N THIS CHAPTER,

you will learn about operators and control flow statements. Operators provide syntax for performing different calculations or actions appropriate for the operands within the calculation. Control flow statements provide the means for conditional logic within a program or looping over a section of code multiple times. After introducing the if control flow statement, the chapter looks at the concept of Boolean expressions, which are embedded within many control flow statements. Included is mention of how integers will not cast (even explicitly) to bool and the #if, #elif, #else, and #endif #define and #undef #error and #warning #pragma nowarn:<warn list> #line #region/#endregion

break continue goto

5

if while do-while for foreach switch

6

Preprocessor Directives

Operators Assignment Operators Increment and Decrement Operators Constant Expressions

Jump Statements

4

1

Arithmetic Binary Operators

Operators and Control Flow

Control Flow Statements

3

2

Boolean Expressions

Bitwise Operators

83


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Chapter 3: Operators and Control Flow

advantages of this restriction. The chapter ends with a discussion of the C# “preprocessor” and its accompanying directives.

Operators Now that you have been introduced to the predefined data types (refer to Chapter 2), you can begin to learn more about how to use these data types in combination with operators in order to perform calculations. For example, you can make calculations on variables that you have declared.

BEGINNER TOPIC Operators Operators specify operations within an expression, such as a mathematical expression, to be performed on a set of values, called operands, to produce a new value or result. For example, in Listing 3.1 there are two operands, the numbers 4 and 2, that are combined using the subtraction operator, -. You assign the result to the variable difference. Listing 3.1: A Simple Operator Example difference = 4 – 2;

Operators are generally broken down into three categories: unary, binary, and ternary, corresponding to the number of operands 1, 2, and 3, respectively. This section covers some of the most basic unary and binary operators. Introduction to the ternary operator appears later in the chapter.

Plus and Minus Unary Operators (+, -) Sometimes you may want to change the sign of a numerical variable. In these cases, the unary minus operator (-) comes in handy. For example, Listing 3.2 changes the total current U.S. debt to a negative value to indicate that it is an amount owed. Listing 3.2: Specifying Negative Values1 //National Debt to the Penny decimal debt = -11719258192538.99M;

Using the minus operator is equivalent to subtracting the operand from zero. 1. As of August 21, 2009, according to www.treasurydirect.gov.


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The unary plus operator (+) has rarely2 had any effect on a value. It is a superfluous addition to the C# language and was included for the sake of symmetry.

Arithmetic Binary Operators (+, -, *, /, %) Binary operators require two operands in order to process an equation: a left-hand side operand and a right-hand side operand. Binary operators also require that the code assign the resultant value to avoid losing it.

Language Contrast: C++—Operator-Only Statements Binary operators in C# require an assignment or call; they always return a new result. Neither operand in a binary operator expression can be modified. In contrast, C++ will allow a single statement, such as 4+5, to compile even without an assignment. In C#, call, increment, decrement, and new object expressions are allowed for operator-only statements.

The subtraction example in Listing 3.3 is an example of a binary operator—more specifically, an arithmetic binary operator. The operands appear on each side of the arithmetic operator and then the calculated value is assigned. The other arithmetic binary operators are addition (+), division (/), multiplication (*), and remainder (%; sometimes called the mod operator). Listing 3.3: Using Binary Operators class Division { static void Main() { int numerator; int denominator; int quotient; int remainder; System.Console.Write("Enter the numerator: "); numerator = int.Parse(System.Console.ReadLine());

2. The unary + operator is not defined on a short; it is defined on int, uint, long, ulong, float, double, and decimal. Therefore, using it on a short will convert it to one of these types as appropriate.


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Chapter 3: Operators and Control Flow System.Console.Write("Enter the denominator: "); denominator = int.Parse(System.Console.ReadLine()); quotient = numerator / denominator; remainder = numerator % denominator; System.Console.WriteLine( "{0} / {1} = {2} with remainder {3}", numerator, denominator, quotient, remainder); } }

Output 3.1 shows the results of Listing 3.3. OUTPUT 3.1: Enter the numerator: 23 Enter the denominator: 3 23 / 3 = 7 with remainder 2.

Note the order of associativity when using binary operators. The binary operator order is from left to right. In contrast, the assignment operator order is from right to left. On its own, however, associativity does not specify whether the division will occur before or after the assignment. The order of precedence defines this. The precedence for the operators used so far is as follows: 1. *, /, and % 2. + and 3. =

Therefore, you can assume that the statement behaves as expected, with the division and remainder operators occurring before the assignment. If you forget to assign the result of one of these binary operators, you will receive the compile error shown in Output 3.2. OUTPUT 3.2: ... error CS0201: Only assignment, call, increment, decrement, and new object expressions can be used as a statement


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BEGINNER TOPIC Associativity and Order of Precedence As with mathematics, programming languages support the concept of associativity. Associativity refers to how operands are grouped and, therefore, the order in which operators are evaluated. Given a single operator that appears more than once in an expression, the operator associates the first duple and then the next operand until all operators are evaluated. For example, a-b-c associates as (a-b)-c, and not a-(b-c). Associativity applies only when all the operators are the same. When different operators appear within a statement, the order of precedence for those operators dictates which operators are evaluated first. Order of precedence, for example, indicates that the multiplication operator be evaluated before the plus operator in the expression a+b*c. Using the Plus Operator with Strings

Operators can also work with types that are not numeric. For example, it is possible to use the plus operator to concatenate two or more strings, as shown in Listing 3.4. Listing 3.4: Using Binary Operators with Non-Numeric Types class FortyTwo { static void Main() { short windSpeed = 42; System.Console.WriteLine( "The original Tacoma Bridge in Washington\nwas" + "brought down by a " + windSpeed + " mile/hour wind."); } }

Output 3.3 shows the results of Listing 3.4. OUTPUT 3.3: The original Tacoma Bridge in Washington was brought down by a 42 mile/hour wind.


88


Because sentence structure varies among languages in different cultures, developers should be careful not to use the plus operator with strings that require localization. Composite formatting is preferred (refer to Chapter 1). Using Characters in Arithmetic Operations

When introducing the char type in the preceding chapter, I mentioned that even though it stores characters and not numbers, the char type is an integral type (“integral” means it is based on an integer). It can participate in arithmetic operations with other integer types. However, interpretation of the value of the char type is not based on the character stored within it, but rather on its underlying value. The digit 3, for example, contains a Unicode value of 0x33 (hexadecimal), which in base 10 is 51. The digit 4, on the other hand, contains a Unicode value of 0x34, or 52 in base 10. Adding 3 and 4 in Listing 3.5 results in a hexadecimal value of 0x167, or 103 in base 10, which is equivalent to the letter g. Listing 3.5: Using the Plus Operator with the char Data Type int n = '3' + '4'; char c = (char)n; System.Console.WriteLine(c);

// Writes out g.

Output 3.4 shows the results of Listing 3.5. OUTPUT 3.4: g

You can use this trait of character types to determine how far two characters are from one another. For example, the letter f is three characters away from the letter c. You can determine this value by subtracting the letter c from the letter f, as Listing 3.6 demonstrates. Listing 3.6: Determining the Character Difference between Two Characters int distance = 'f' – 'c'; System.Console.WriteLine(distance);


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Output 3.5 shows the results of Listing 3.6. OUTPUT 3.5: 3

Special Floating-Point Characteristics

The floating-point types, float and double, have some special characteristics, such as the way they handle precision. This section looks at some specific examples, as well as some unique floating-point type characteristics. A float, with seven digits of precision, can hold the value 1,234,567 and the value 0.1234567. However, if you add these two floats together, the result will be rounded to 1234567, because the decimal portion of the number is past the seven significant digits that a float can hold. This type of rounding can become significant, especially with repeated calculations or checks for equality (see the upcoming Advanced Topic, Unexpected Inequality with Floating-Point Types). Note that inaccuracies can occur with a simple assignment, such as double number = 140.6F. Since the double can hold a more accurate value than the float can store, the C# compiler will actually evaluate this expression to double number = 140.600006103516;. 140.600006103516 is 140.6 as a float, but not quite 140.6 when represented as a double.

ADVANCED TOPIC Unexpected Inequality with Floating-Point Types The inaccuracies of floats can be very disconcerting when comparing values for equality, since they can unexpectedly be unequal. Consider Listing 3.7. Listing 3.7: Unexpected Inequality Due to Floating-Point Inaccuracies decimal decimalNumber = 4.2M; double doubleNumber1 = 0.1F * 42F; double doubleNumber2 = 0.1D * 42D; float floatNumber = 0.1F * 42F; Trace.Assert(decimalNumber != (decimal)doubleNumber1); // Displays: 4.2 != 4.20000006258488 System.Console.WriteLine( "{0} != {1}", decimalNumber, (decimal)doubleNumber1);


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Chapter 3: Operators and Control Flow Trace.Assert((double)decimalNumber != doubleNumber1); // Displays: 4.2 != 4.20000006258488 System.Console.WriteLine( "{0} != {1}", (double)decimalNumber, doubleNumber1); Trace.Assert((float)decimalNumber != floatNumber); // Displays: (float)4.2M != 4.2F System.Console.WriteLine( "(float){0}M != {1}F", (float)decimalNumber, floatNumber); Trace.Assert(doubleNumber1 != (double)floatNumber); // Displays: 4.20000006258488 != 4.20000028610229 System.Console.WriteLine( "{0} != {1}", doubleNumber1, (double)floatNumber); Trace.Assert(doubleNumber1 != doubleNumber2); // Displays: 4.20000006258488 != 4.2 System.Console.WriteLine( "{0} != {1}", doubleNumber1, doubleNumber2); Trace.Assert(floatNumber != doubleNumber2); // Displays: 4.2F != 4.2D System.Console.WriteLine( "{0}F != {1}D", floatNumber, doubleNumber2); Trace.Assert((double)4.2F != 4.2D); // Display: 4.19999980926514 != 4.2 System.Console.WriteLine( "{0} != {1}", (double)4.2F, 4.2D); Trace.Assert(4.2F != 4.2D); // Display: 4.2F != 4.2D System.Console.WriteLine( "{0}F != {1}D", 4.2F, 4.2D);

Output 3.6 shows the results of Listing 3.7. OUTPUT 3.6: 4.2 != 4.20000006258488 4.2 != 4.20000006258488 (float)4.2M != 4.2F 4.20000006258488 != 4.20000028610229 4.20000006258488 != 4.2 4.2F != 4.2D 4.19999980926514 != 4.2 4.2F != 4.2D


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The Assert() methods are designed to display a debug dialog whenever the parameter evaluates to false. However, all of the Assert() statements in this code listing will evaluate to true. Therefore, in spite of the apparent equality of the values in the code listing, they are in fact not equivalent due to the inaccuracies of a float. Furthermore, there is not some compounding rounding error. The C# compiler performs the calculations instead of the runtime. Even if you simply assign 4.2F rather than a calculation, the comparisons will remain unequal. To avoid unexpected results caused by the inaccuracies of floatingpoint types, developers should avoid using equality conditionals with these types. Rather, equality evaluations should include a tolerance. One easy way to achieve this is to subtract one value (operand) from the other and then evaluate whether the absolute value of the result is less than the maximum tolerance. Even better is to use the decimal type in place of the float type. You should be aware of some additional unique floating-point characteristics as well. For instance, you would expect that dividing an integer by zero would result in an error, and it does with precision data types such as int and decimal. float and double, however, allow for certain special values. Consider Listing 3.8, and its resultant output, Output 3.7. Listing 3.8: Dividing a Float by Zero, Displaying NaN float n=0f; // Displays: NaN System.Console.WriteLine(n / 0);

OUTPUT 3.7: NaN

In mathematics, certain mathematical operations are undefined. In C#, the result of dividing 0F by the value 0 results in “Not a Number,” and all attempts to print the output of such a number will result in NaN. Similarly, taking the square root of a negative number (System.Math.Sqrt(-1)) will result in NaN.


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A floating-point number could overflow its bounds as well. For example, the upper bound of a float type is 3.4E38. Should the number overflow that bound, the result would be stored as “positive infinity” and the output of printing the number would be Infinity. Similarly, the lower bound of a float type is –3.4E38, and assigning a value below that bound would result in “negative infinity,” which would be represented by the string -Infinity. Listing 3.9 produces negative and positive infinity, respectively, and Output 3.8 shows the results. Listing 3.9: Overflowing the Bounds of a float // Displays: -Infinity System.Console.WriteLine(-1f / 0); // Displays: Infinity System.Console.WriteLine(3.402823E+38f * 2f);

OUTPUT 3.8: -Infinity Infinity

Further examination of the floating-point number reveals that it can contain a value very close to zero, without actually containing zero. If the value exceeds the lower threshold for the float or double type, then the value of the number can be represented as “negative zero“ or “positive zero,“ depending on whether the number is negative or positive, and is represented in output as -0 or 0.

Parenthesis Operator Parentheses allow you to group operands and operators so that they are evaluated together. This is important because it provides a means of overriding the default order of precedence. For example, the following two expressions evaluate to something completely different: (60 / 10) * 2 60 / (10 * 2)

The first expression is equal to 12; the second expression is equal to 3. In both cases, the parentheses affect the final value of the expression. Sometimes the parenthesis operator does not actually change the result, because the order-of-precedence rules apply appropriately. However, it is


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often still a good practice to use parentheses to make the code more readable. This expression, for example: fahrenheit = (celsius * 9.0 / 5.0) + 32.0;

is easier to interpret confidently at a glance than this one is: fahrenheit = celsius * 9.0 / 5.0 + 32.0;

Developers should use parentheses to make code more readable, disambiguating expressions explicitly instead of relying on operator precedence.

Assignment Operators (+=, -=, *=, /=, %=) Chapter 1 discussed the simple assignment operator, which places the value of the right-hand side of the operator into the variable on the lefthand side. Other assignment operators combine common binary operator calculations with the assignment operator. Take Listing 3.10, for example. Listing 3.10: Common Increment Calculation int x; x = x + 2;

In this assignment, first you calculate the value of x + 2 and then you assign the calculated value back to x. Since this type of operation is relatively frequent, an assignment operator exists to handle both the calculation and the assignment with one operator. The += operator increments the variable on the left-hand side of the operator with the value on the righthand side of the operator, as shown in Listing 3.11. Listing 3.11: Using the += Operator int x; x += 2;

This code, therefore, is equivalent to Listing 3.10. Numerous other combination assignment operators exist to provide similar functionality. You can use the assignment operator in conjunction with not only addition, but also subtraction, multiplication, division, and the remainder operators, as Listing 3.12 demonstrates.


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Chapter 3: Operators and Control Flow Listing 3.12: Other Assignment Operator Examples x x x x

-= /= *= %=

2; 2; 2; 2;

Increment and Decrement Operators (++, --) C# includes special operators for incrementing and decrementing counters. The increment operator, ++, increments a variable by one each time it is used. In other words, all of the code lines shown in Listing 3.13 are equivalent. Listing 3.13: Increment Operator spaceCount = spaceCount + 1; spaceCount += 1; spaceCount++;

Similarly, you can also decrement a variable by one using the decrement operator, --. Therefore, all of the code lines shown in Listing 3.14 are also equivalent. Listing 3.14: Decrement Operator lines = lines - 1; lines -= 1; lines--;

BEGINNER TOPIC A Decrement Example in a Loop The increment and decrement operators are especially prevalent in loops, such as the while loop described later in the chapter. For example, Listing 3.15 uses the decrement operator in order to iterate backward through each letter in the alphabet. Listing 3.15: Displaying Each Character’s ASCII Value in Descending Order char current; int asciiValue; // Set the initial value of current.


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current='z'; do { // Retrieve the ASCII value of current. asciiValue = current; System.Console.Write("{0}={1}\t", current, asciiValue); // Proceed to the previous letter in the alphabet; current--; } while(current>='a');

Output 3.9 shows the results of Listing 3.15. OUTPUT 3.9: z=122 q=113 h=104

y=121 p=112 g=103

x=120 o=111 f=102

w=119 n=110 e=101

v=118 m=109 d=100

u=117 l=108 c=99

t=116 k=107 b=98

s=115 j=106 a=97

r=114 i=105

The increment and decrement operators are used to count how many times to perform a particular operation. Notice also that in this example, the increment operator is used on a character (char) data type. You can use increment and decrement operators on various data types as long as some meaning is assigned to the concept of “next“ or “previous“ for that data type. Just as with the assignment operator, the increment operator also returns a value. In other words, it is possible to use the assignment operator simultaneously with the increment or decrement operator (see Listing 3.16 and Output 3.10). Listing 3.16: Using the Post-Increment Operator int count; int result; count = 0; result = count++; System.Console.WriteLine("result = {0} and count = {1}", result, count);

OUTPUT 3.10: result = 0 and count = 1


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You might be surprised that result is assigned the value in count before count is incremented. In other words, result ends up with a value of 0 even though count ends up with a value of 1. Where you place the increment or decrement operator determines whether the assigned value should be the value of the operand before or after the calculation, which affects how the code functions. If you want the value of result to include the increment (or decrement) calculation, you need to place the operator before the variable being incremented, as shown in Listing 3.17. Listing 3.17: Using the Pre-Increment Operator int count; int result; count = 0; result = ++count; System.Console.WriteLine("result = {0} and count = {1}", result, count);

Output 3.11 shows the results of Listing 3.17. OUTPUT 3.11: result = 1 and count = 1

In this example, the increment operator appears before the operand so the value returned is the value assigned to the variable after the increment. If x is 1, then ++x will return 2. However, if a postfix operator is used, x++, the value returned by the expression will still be 1. Regardless of whether the operator is postfix or prefix, the resultant value of x will be incremented. The difference between prefix and postfix behavior appears in Listing 3.18. The resultant output is shown in Output 3.12. Listing 3.18: Comparing the Prefix and Postfix Increment Operators class IncrementExample { public static void Main() { int x;


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x = 1; // Display 1, 2. System.Console.WriteLine("{0}, {1}, {2}", x++, x++, x); // x now contains the value 3. // Display 4, 5. System.Console.WriteLine("{0}, {1}, {2}", ++x, ++x, x); // x now contains the value 5. // ... } }

OUTPUT 3.12: 1, 2, 3 4, 5, 5

As Listing 3.18 demonstrates, where the increment and decrement operators appear relative to the operand can affect the result returned from the operator. Pre-increment/decrement operators return the result after incrementing/decrementing the operand. Post-increment/decrement operators return the result before changing the operand. Developers should use caution when embedding these operators in the middle of a statement. When in doubt as to what will happen, use these operators independently, placing them within their own statements. This way, the code is also more readable and there is no mistaking the intention.

ADVANCED TOPIC Thread-Safe Incrementing and Decrementing In spite of the brevity of the increment and decrement operators, these operators are not atomic. A thread context switch can occur during the execution of the operator and can cause a race condition. You could use a lock statement to prevent the race condition. However, for simple increments and decrements a less expensive alternative is to use the thread-safe Increment() and Decrement() methods from the System.Threading.Interlocked class. These methods rely on processor functions for performing fast thread-safe increments and decrements (see Chapter 19 for more detail).


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Constant Expressions (const) The preceding chapter discussed literal values, or values embedded directly into the code. It is possible to combine multiple literal values in a constant expression using operators. By definition, a constant expression is one that the C# compiler can evaluate at compile time (instead of calculating it when the program runs) because it is composed of constant operands. For example, the number of seconds in a day can be assigned as a constant expression whose result can then be used in other expressions. The const keyword in Listing 3.19 locks the value at compile time. Any attempt to modify the value later in the code results in a compile error. Listing 3.19: // ... public long Main() Constant Expression { const int secondsPerDay = 60 * 60 * 24; const int secondsPerWeek = secondsPerDay * 7; // ...

Constant

}

Note that even the value assigned to secondsPerWeek is a constant expression, because the operands in the expression are also constants, so the compiler can determine the result.

Introducing Flow Control Later in this chapter is a code listing (Listing 3.43) that shows a simple way to view a number in its binary form. Even such a simple program, however, cannot be written without using control flow statements. Such statements control the execution path of the program. This section discusses how to change the order of statement execution based on conditional checks. Later on, you will learn how to execute statement groups repeatedly through loop constructs. A summary of the control flow statements appears in Table 3.1. Note that the General Syntax Structure column indicates common statement use, not the complete lexical structure.


TABLE 3.1: Control Flow Statements

Statement

General Syntax Structure

Example

if statement

if(boolean-expression) embedded-statement

if (input == "quit") { System.Console.WriteLine( "Game end"); return; }

if(boolean-expression) embedded-statement else embedded-statement

if (input == "quit") { System.Console.WriteLine( "Game end"); return; } else GetNextMove();

while(boolean-expression) embedded-statement

while(count < total) { System.Console.WriteLine( "count = {0}", count); count++; }

while statement

Continues


100 TABLE 3.1: Control Flow Statements (Continued)

Statement

General Syntax Structure

Example

do while statement

do

do { System.Console.WriteLine( "Enter name:"); input = System.Console.ReadLine(); } while(input != "exit");

for statement

for(for-initializer; boolean-expression; for-iterator) embedded-statement

for (int count = 1; count = 0; i--) { for (j = 1; j items[j]) { temp = items[j - 1]; items[j - 1] = items[j]; items[j] = temp; } } } } // ... }


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This method will sort an array of integers in ascending order. However, if you wanted to support the option to sort the integers in descending order, you would have essentially two options. You could duplicate the code and replace the greater-than operator with a less-than operator. Alternatively, you could pass in an additional parameter indicating how to perform the sort, as shown in Listing 12.2. Listing 12.2: BubbleSort() Method, Ascending or Descending class SimpleSort2 { public enum SortType { Ascending, Descending } public static void BubbleSort(int[] items, SortType sortOrder) { int i; int j; int temp; if(items==null) { return; } for (i = items.Length - 1; i >= 0; i--) { for (j = 1; j items[j]) { temp = items[j - 1]; items[j - 1] = items[j]; items[j] = temp; } break; case SortType.Descending : if (items[j - 1] < items[j]) { temp = items[j - 1]; items[j - 1] = items[j];


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Chapter 12: Delegates and Lambda Expressions items[j] = temp; } break; } } } } // ... }

However, this handles only two of the possible sort orders. If you wanted to sort them alphabetically, randomize the collection, or order them via some other criterion, it would not take long before the number of BubbleSort() methods and corresponding SortType values would become cumbersome.

Delegate Data Types To increase the flexibility (and reduce code duplication), you can pass in the comparison method as a parameter to the BubbleSort() method. Moreover, in order to pass a method as a parameter, there needs to be a data type that can represent that method—in other words, a delegate. Listing 12.3 includes a modification to the BubbleSort() method that takes a delegate parameter. In this case, the delegate data type is ComparisonHandler. Listing 12.3: BubbleSort() Method with Delegate Parameter class DelegateSample { // ... public static void BubbleSort( int[] items, ComparisonHandler comparisonMethod) { int i; int j; int temp; if(items==null) { return; } if(comparisonMethod == null) {



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throw new ArgumentNullException("comparisonMethod"); } for (i = items.Length - 1; i >= 0; i--) { for (j = 1; j second; } // ... }

With this method defined, you can call BubbleSort() and pass the delegate instance that contains this method. Beginning with C# 2.0, you simply specify the name of the delegate method (see Listing 12.8). Listing 12.8: Passing a Delegate Instance As a Parameter in C# 2.0 public delegate bool ComparisonHandler ( int first, int second);

class DelegateSample { public static void BubbleSort( int[] items, ComparisonHandler comparisonMethod) { // ... } public static bool GreaterThan(int first, int second) { return first > second; } static void Main() { int[] items = new int[100]; Random random = new Random();



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for (int i = 0; i < items.Length; i++) { items[i] = random.Next(int.MinValue, int.MaxValue); }

BubbleSort(items, GreaterThan); for (int i = 0; i < items.Length; i++) { Console.WriteLine(items[i]); } } }

Note that the ComparisonHandler delegate is a reference type, but you do not necessarily use new to instantiate it. The facility to pass the name instead of using explicit instantiation is called delegate inference, a new syntax beginning with C# 2.0. With this syntax, the compiler uses the method name to look up the method signature and verify that it matches the method’s parameter type.

ADVANCED TOPIC Delegate Instantiation in C# 1.0 Earlier versions of the compiler require instantiation of the delegate demonstrated in Listing 12.9. Listing 12.9: Passing a Delegate Instance As a Parameter Prior to C# 2.0 public delegate bool ComparisonHandler ( int first, int second);

class DelegateSample { public static void BubbleSort( int[] items, ComparisonHandler comparisonMethod) { // ... } public static bool GreaterThan(int first, int second) {


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Chapter 12: Delegates and Lambda Expressions return first > second; } static void Main(string[] args) { int i; int[] items = new int[5]; for (i=0; i= 0; i--) { for (j = 1; j second; } public static bool AlphabeticalGreaterThan( int first, int second) { int comparison; comparison = (first.ToString().CompareTo( second.ToString())); return comparison > 0; } static void Main(string[] args) { int i; int[] items = new int[5]; for (i=0; i narrowAction = broadAction; // Contravariance Func<string> narrowFunction = delegate() { return Console.ReadLine(); }; Func broadFunction = narrowFunction; // Contravariance & Covariance Combined Func func1 = delegate(object data) { return data.ToString(); }; Func<string, object> func2 = func1;

The last part of the listing combines both variance concepts into a single example, demonstrating how they can occur simultaneously if both in and out type parameters are involved. The need for variance support within these generic delegates was a key contributing factor for why C# now includes the feature.2

2. The other was support for covariance to IEnumerable.


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Chapter 12: Delegates and Lambda Expressions

Lambda Expressions Introduced in C# 3.0, lambda expressions are a more succinct syntax of anonymous functions than anonymous methods, where anonymous functions is a general term that includes both lambda expressions and anonymous methods. Lambda expressions are themselves broken into two types: statement lambdas and expression lambdas. Figure 12.2 shows the hierarchical relationship between the terms.

Anonymous Function

Lambda Expression

Expression Lambda

Anonymous Method

Statement Lambda

Figure 12.2: Anonymous Function Terminology

As mentioned earlier in the context of delegates, all anonymous functions are immutable.

Statement Lambdas With statement lambdas, C# 3.0 provides a reduced syntax for anonymous methods, a syntax that does not include the delegate keyword and adds the lambda operator, =>. Listing 12.15 shows equivalent functionality to Listing 12.12, except that Listing 12.15 uses a statement lambda rather than an anonymous method. Listing 12.15: Passing a Delegate with a Statement Lambda class DelegateSample { // ...


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static void Main(string[] args) { int i; int[] items = new int[5]; for (i=0; i { return first < second; } ); for (i = 0; i < items.Length; i++) { Console.WriteLine(items[i]); } } }

When reading code that includes a lambda operator, you would replace the lambda operator with the words go/goes to. For example, you would read n => { return n.ToString();} as “n goes to return n dot ToString.” In Listing 12.15, you would read the second BubbleSort() parameter as “integers first and second go to returning the result of first less than second.” As readers will observe, the syntax in Listing 12.15 is virtually identical to that in Listing 12.12, apart from the changes already outlined. However, statement lambdas allow for an additional shortcut via type parameter inference. Rather than explicitly declaring the data type of the parameters, statement lambdas can omit parameter types as long as the compiler can infer the types. In Listing 12.16, the delegate data type is bool ComparisonHandler(int first, int second), so the compiler verifies that the return type is a bool and infers that the input parameters are both integers (int).


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Chapter 12: Delegates and Lambda Expressions Listing 12.16: Omitting Parameter Types from Statement Lambdas // ... BubbleSort(items, (first, second) => { return first < second; } ); // ...

In general, statement lambdas do not need parameter types as long as the compiler can infer the types or can implicitly convert them to the requisite expected types. If the types are specified, however, there must be an exact match for the delegate type. In cases where inference is not possible, the data type is required, although even when it is not required, you can specify the data type explicitly to increase readability; once the statement lambda includes one type, all types are required. In general, C# requires a lambda expression to have parentheses around the parameter list regardless of whether the data type is specified. Even parameterless statement lambdas, representing delegates that have no input parameters, are coded using empty parentheses (see Listing 12.17). Listing 12.17: Parameterless Statement Lambdas using System; // ... Func<string> getUserInput = () => { string input; do { input = Console.ReadLine(); } while(input.Trim().Length==0); return input; }; // ...

The exception to the parenthesis rule is that if the compiler can infer the data type and there is only a single input parameter, the statement lambda does not require parentheses (see Listing 12.18).


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Listing 12.18: Statement Lambdas with a Single Input Parameter using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Diagnostics; using System.Linq; // ... IEnumerable processes = Process.GetProcesses().Where( process => { return process.WorkingSet64 > 2^30; }); // ...

(In Listing 12.18, Where() returns a query for processes that have a physical memory utilization greater than 1GB.) Note that back in Listing 12.17, the body of the statement lambda includes multiple statements inside the statement block (via curly braces). Although a statement lambda can have any number of statements, typically a statement lambda uses only two or three statements in its statement block.

Expression Lambdas Unlike a statement lambda, which includes a statement block and, therefore, zero or more statements, an expression lambda has only an expression, with no statement block. Listing 12.19 is the same as Listing 12.15, except that it uses an expression lambda rather than a statement lambda. Listing 12.19: Passing a Delegate with a Statement Lambda class DelegateSample { // ... static void Main(string[] args) { int i; int[] items = new int[5]; for (i=0; i first < second; );


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Chapter 12: Delegates and Lambda Expressions for (i = 0; i < items.Length; i++) { Console.WriteLine(items[i]); } } }

The difference between a statement and an expression lambda is that the statement lambda has a statement block on the right side of the lambda operator, whereas the expression lambda has only an expression (no return statement or curly braces, for example). Generally, you would read a lambda operator in an expression lambda in the same way you would a statement lambda: “go/goes to.” In addition, “becomes” is sometimes clearer. In cases such as the BubbleSort() call, where the expression lambda specified is a predicate (returns a Boolean), it is frequently clearer to replace the lambda operator with “such that.” This changes the pronunciation of the statement lambda in Listing 12.19 to read “first and second such that first is less than second.” One of the most common places for a predicate to appear is in the call to System.Linq.Enumerable()’s Where() function. In cases such as this, neither “such that” nor “goes to” is needed. We would read names.Where(name => name.Contains(" ")) as “names where names dot Contains a space,” for example. One pronunciation difference between the lambda operator in statement lambdas and in expression lambdas is that “such that” terminology applies more to expression lambdas than to statement lambdas since the latter tend to be more complex. The anonymous function does not have any intrinsic type associated with it, although implicit conversion is possible for any delegate type as long as the parameters and return type are compatible. In other words, an anonymous method is no more a ComparisonHandler type than another delegate type such as LessThanHandler. As a result, you cannot use the typeof() operator (see Chapter 17) on an anonymous method, and calling GetType() is possible only after assigning or casting the anonymous method to a delegate variable. Table 12.1 contains additional lambda expression characteristics.


TABLE 12.1: Lambda Expression Notes and Examples

Statement

Example

Lambda expressions themselves do not have type. In fact, there is no concept of a lambda expression in the CLR. Therefore, there are no members to call directly from a lambda expression. The . operator on a lambda expression will not compile, eliminating even the option of calls to object methods.

// ERROR: Operator '.' cannot be applied to // operand of type 'lambda expression' Type type = ((int x) => x).ToString();

Given that a lambda expression does not have an intrinsic type, it cannot appear to the right of an is operator.

// ERROR: The first operand of an 'is' or 'as' // operator may not be a lambda expression or // anonymous method bool boolean = ((int x) => x) is Func;

Although there is no type on the lambda expression on its own, once assigned or cast, the lambda expression takes on a type. Therefore, it is common for developers to informally refer to the type of the lambda expression concerning type compatibility, for example.

// ERROR: Lambda expression is not compatible with // Func type. Func expression = ((int x) => x);

A lambda expression cannot be assigned to an implicitly typed local variable since the compiler does not know what type to make the variable given that lambda expressions do not have type.

// ERROR: Cannot assign lambda expression to an // implicitly typed local variable var thing = (x => x); Continues


492 TABLE 12.1: Lambda Expression Notes and Examples (Continued)

Statement

Example

C# does not allow jump statements (break, goto, continue) inside anonymous functions if the target is outside the lambda expression. Similarly, you cannot target a jump statement from outside the lambda expression (or anonymous methods) into the lambda expression.

// ERROR: Control cannot leave the body of an // anonymous method or lambda expression string[] args; Func<string> expression; switch(args[0]) { case "/File": expression = () => { if (!File.Exists(args[1])) { break; } // ... return args[1]; }; // ... }

Variables introduced within a lambda expression are visible only within the scope of the lambda expression body.

// ERROR: The name 'first' does not // exist in the current context Func expression = (first, second) => first > second; first++;


TABLE 12.1: Lambda Expression Notes and Examples (Continued)

Statement

Example

The compiler’s flow analysis is unable to detect initialization of local variables in lambda expressions.

int number; Func<string, bool> expression = text => int.TryParse(text, out number); if (expression("1")) { // ERROR: Use of unassigned local variable System.Console.Write(number); } int number; Func isFortyTwo = x => 42 == (number = x); if (isFortyTwo(42)) { // ERROR: Use of unassigned local variable System.Console.Write(number); }


494


ADVANCED TOPIC Lambda Expression and Anonymous Method Internals Lambda expressions (and anonymous methods) are not an intrinsic construct within the CLR. Rather, the C# compiler generates the implementation at compile time. Lambda expressions provide a language construct for an inline-declared delegate pattern. The C# compiler, therefore, generates the implementation code for this pattern so that the compiler automatically writes the code instead of the developer writing it manually. Given the earlier listings, therefore, the C# compiler generates CIL code that is similar to the C# code shown in Listing 12.20. Listing 12.20: C# Equivalent of CIL Generated by the Compiler for Lambda Expressions class DelegateSample { // ... static void Main(string[] args) { int i; int[] items = new int[5]; for (i=0; i person.Name.ToUpper() == "INIGO MONTOYA");

select * from Person where upper(Name) = 'INIGO MONTOYA';

Recognizing the original Where() call parameter as data, you can see that it is made up of the following: • The call to the Person property, Name • A call to a string method called ToUpper() • A constant value, "INIGO MONTOYA" • An equality operator, ==

The Where() method takes this data and converts it to the SQL where clause by iterating over the data and building a SQL query string. However, SQL is just one example of what an expression tree may convert to. Expression Trees Are Object Graphs

The data that an expression tree translates to is an object graph, an object graph that is represented by System.Linq.Expressions.Expression. Although an expression tree includes a method that will compile it into a delegate constructor call (executable CIL code), it is more likely that the expression tree (data) will be converted into a different format or set of instructions. Any lambda expression, for example, is a type of expression that has a read-only collection of parameters, a return type, and a body—which is another expression (see Figure 12.3).


500


Figure 12.3: Object Graph of a Lambda Expression

This object graph is the data required to compile the LambdaExpression into CIL (or to convert some other representation). Similarly, we can create an object graph for a unary expression or binary expression (see Figure 12.4). A unary expression (such as count++) is an expression composed of an Operand (of type Expression) and a Method—the operator. The BinaryExpression, which also derives from Expression, has two expression associations (Left and Right) in addition to the operator (Method). These object graphs sufficiently represent these types of expressions. However, there are another 30 or so expression types, such as NewExpression, ParameterExpression, MethodCallExpression, LoopExpression, and so forth.


Figure 12.4: Object Graph of Unary and Binary Expressions


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Chapter 12: Delegates and Lambda Expressions Lambda Expressions versus Expression Trees

Both a lambda expression for delegates and a lambda expression for an expression tree are compiled, and in both cases the syntax of the expression is verified at compile time with full semantic analysis. The difference, however, is that a lambda expression is compiled into a delegate in CIL. In contrast, an expression tree is compiled into a data structure of type System.Linq.Expressions.Expression. Let us consider an example that highlights the difference between a delegate and an expression tree. System.Linq.Enumerable and System.Linq.Queryable are very similar. They each provide virtually identical extension methods to the collection interfaces they extend (IEnumerable and IQueryable, respectively). Consider, for example, the Where() method from Listing 12.23. Given a collection that supports IEnumerable, a call to Where() could be as follows: persons.Where( person => person.Name.ToUpper() == "INIGO MONTOYA");

Conceptually, the Enumerable extension method signature is defined on IEnumerable as follows: public IEnumerable Where( Func predicate);

However, the equivalent Queryable extension on the IQueryable method call is identical, even though the conceptual Where() method signature (shown) is not: public IQueryable Where( Expression predicate);

The calling code for the argument is identical because the lambda expression itself does not have type until it is assigned/cast. Enumerable’s Where() implementation takes the lambda expression and converts it to a delegate that the Where() method’s implementation calls. In contrast, when calling Queryable’s Where(), the lambda expression is converted to an expression tree so that the compiler converts the lambda expression into data. The object implementing IQueryable receives


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the expression data and manipulates it. As suggested before, the expression tree received by Where() may be converted into a SQL query that is passed to a database. Examining an Expression Tree

Capitalizing on the fact that lambda expressions don’t have intrinsic type, assigning a lambda expression to a System.Linq.Expressions.Expression creates an expression tree rather than a delegate. In Listing 12.24, we create an expression tree for the Func. (Recall that Func is functionally equivalent to the ComparisonHandler delegate.) Notice that just the simple act of writing an expression to the console, Console.WriteLine(expression) (where expression is of type Expression), will result in a call to expression’s ToString() method. However, this doesn’t cause the expression to be evaluated or even to write out the fully qualified name of Func (as would happen if we used a delegate instance). Rather, displaying the expression writes out the data (in this case, the expression code) corresponding to the value of the expression tree. Listing 12.24: Examining an Expression Tree using System; using System.Linq.Expressions; class Program { static void Main() { Expression expression; expression = (x, y) => x > y; Console.WriteLine("-------------{0}-------------", expression); PrintNode(expression.Body, 0); Console.WriteLine(); Console.WriteLine(); expression = (x, y) => x * y > x + y; Console.WriteLine("-------------{0}-------------", expression); PrintNode(expression.Body, 0); Console.WriteLine(); Console.WriteLine(); }


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Chapter 12: Delegates and Lambda Expressions public static void PrintNode(Expression expression, int indent) { if (expression is BinaryExpression) PrintNode(expression as BinaryExpression, indent); else PrintSingle(expression, indent); } private static void PrintNode(BinaryExpression expression, int indent) { PrintNode(expression.Left, indent + 1); PrintSingle(expression, indent); PrintNode(expression.Right, indent + 1); } private static void PrintSingle( Expression expression, int indent) { Console.WriteLine("{0," + indent * 5 + "}{1}", "", NodeToString(expression)); } private static string NodeToString(Expression expression) { switch (expression.NodeType) { case ExpressionType.Multiply: return "*"; case ExpressionType.Add: return "+"; case ExpressionType.Divide: return "/"; case ExpressionType.Subtract: return "-"; case ExpressionType.GreaterThan: return ">"; case ExpressionType.LessThan: return "

IEnumerable<Patent>

IEnumerator

Main Where<Patent> WriteLine

1

GetEnumerator Current{get} MoveNext List Display Triggered for Item WriteLine

2

Count<Patent> List Display Triggered WriteLine

3

WriteLine ToArray<Patent>

List Display Triggered

Write Count<Patent> List NOT Triggered WriteLine

Figure 14.2: IEnumerator and IEnumerator Interfaces


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expensive (such as a call to a database) it would be important to minimize the lambda expression’s execution. First, the execution is triggered within the foreach loop. As I described earlier in the chapter, the foreach loop breaks down into a MoveNext() call and each call results in the lambda expression’s execution for each item in the original collection. While iterating, the runtime invokes the lambda expression for each item to determine whether the item satisfies the predicate. Second, a call to Enumerable’s Count() (the function) triggers the lambda expression for each item once more. Again, this is very subtle since Count (the property) is very common on collections that have not been queried with a standard query operator. Third, the call to ToArray() (or ToList(), ToDictionary(), or ToLookup()) triggers the lambda expression for each item. However, converting the collection with one of these “To” methods is extremely helpful. Doing so returns a collection on which the standard query operator has already executed. In Listing 14.16, the conversion to an array means that when Length is called in the final Console.WriteLine(), the underlying object pointed to by patents is in fact an array (which obviously implements IEnumerable), and therefore, System.Array’s implementation of Length is called and not System.Linq.Enumerable’s implementation. Therefore, following a conversion to one of the collection types returned by a “To” method, it is generally safe to work with the collection (until another standard query operator is called). However, be aware that this will bring the entire result set into memory (it may have been backed by a database or file before this). Furthermore, the “To” method will snapshot the underlying data so that no fresh results will be returned upon requerying the “To” method result. I strongly encourage readers to review the sequence diagram in Figure 14.2 along with the corresponding code and understand the fact that the deferred execution of standard query operators can result in extremely subtle triggering of the standard query operators; therefore, developers should use caution to avoid unexpected calls. The query object represents the query, not the results. When you ask the query for the results, the whole query executes (perhaps even again) because the query object


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doesn’t know that the results will be the same as they were during a previous execution (if one existed).

NOTE To avoid such repeated execution, it is necessary to cache the data that the executed query retrieves. To do this, you assign the data to a local collection using one of the “To” method’s collection methods. During the assignment call of a “To” method, the query obviously executes. However, iterating over the assigned collection after that will not involve the query expression any further. In general, if you want the behavior of an in-memory collection snapshot, it is a best practice to assign a query expression to a cached collection to avoid unnecessary iterations.

Sorting with OrderBy() and ThenBy() Another common operation on a collection is to sort it. This involves a call to System.Linq.Enumerable’s OrderBy(), as shown in Listing 14.19 and Output 14.6. Listing 14.19: Ordering with System.Linq.Enumerable.OrderBy()/ThenBy() using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; // ... IEnumerable<Patent> items; Patent[] patents = PatentData.Patents; items = patents.OrderBy( patent => patent.YearOfPublication).ThenBy( patent => patent.Title); Print(items); Console.WriteLine(); items = patents.OrderByDescending( patent => patent.YearOfPublication).ThenByDescending( patent => patent.Title); Print(items); // ...



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OUTPUT 14.6: Bifocals (1784) Steam Locomotive(1815) Electrical Telegraph(1837) Phonograph(1877) Kinetoscope(1888) Flying machine (1903) Backless Brassiere(1914) Droplet deposition apparatus(1989) Droplet deposition apparatus(1989) Backless Brassiere(1914) Flying machine (1903) Kinetoscope(1888) Phonograph(1877) Electrical Telegraph(1837) Steam Locomotive(1815) Bifocals (1784)

The OrderBy() call takes a lambda expression that identifies the key on which to sort. In Listing 14.19, the initial sort uses the year that the patent was published. However, notice that the OrderBy() call takes only a single parameter, which uses the name keySelector, to sort on. To sort on a second column, it is necessary to use a different method: ThenBy(). Similarly, code would use ThenBy() for any additional sorting. OrderBy() returns an IOrderedEnumerable interface, not an IEnumerable. Furthermore, IOrderedEnumerable derives from IEnumerable, so all the standard query operators (including OrderBy()) are available on the OrderBy() return. However, repeated calls to OrderBy() would undo the work of the previous call such that the end result would sort by only the keySelector in the final OrderBy() call. As a result, be careful not to call OrderBy() on a previous OrderBy() call. Instead, you should specify additional sorting criteria using ThenBy(). Although ThenBy() is an extension method, it is not an extension of IEnumerable, but rather IOrderedEnumerable. The method, also defined on System.Linq.Extensions.Enumerable, is declared as follows: public static IOrderedEnumerable ThenBy( this IOrderedEnumerable source, Func keySelector)


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In summary, use OrderBy() first, followed by zero or more calls to ThenBy() to provide additional sorting “columns.” The methods OrderByDescending() and ThenByDescending() provide the same functionality except with descending order. Mixing and matching ascending and descending methods is not a problem, but if sorting further, use a ThenBy() call (either ascending or descending). Two more important notes about sorting: First, the actual sort doesn’t occur until you begin to access the members in the collection, at which point the entire query is processed. This occurs because you can’t sort unless you have all the items to sort; otherwise, you can’t determine whether you have the first item. The fact that sorting is delayed until you begin to access the members is due to deferred execution, as I describe earlier in this chapter. Second, each subsequent call to sort the data (Orderby() followed by ThenBy() followed by ThenByDescending(), for example) does involve additional calls to the keySelector lambda expression of the earlier sorting calls. In other words, a call to OrderBy() will call its corresponding keySelector lambda expression once you iterate over the collection. Furthermore, a subsequent call to ThenBy() will again make calls to OrderBy()’s keySelector.

BEGINNER TOPIC Join Operations Consider two collections of objects as shown in the Venn diagram in Figure 14.3. The left circle in the diagram includes all inventors, and the right circle contains all patents. Within the intersection, we have both inventors and patents and a line is formed for each case where there is a match of inventors to patents. As the diagram shows, each inventor may have multiple patents and each patent can have one or more inventors. Each patent has an inventor, but in some cases inventors do not yet have patents. Matching up inventors within the intersection to patents is an inner join. The result is a collection of inventor-patent pairs in which both patents and inventions exist for a pair. A left outer join includes all the items within the left circle regardless of whether they have a corresponding patent. In this



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Inner

Left Outer

Right Outer

Inventors

Patents

Figure 14.3: Venn Diagram of Inventor and Patent Collections

particular example, a right outer join would be the same as an inner join since there are no patents without inventors. Furthermore, the designation of left versus right is arbitrary, so there is really no distinction between left and outer joins. A full outer join, however, would include records from both outer sides; it is relatively rare to perform a full outer join. Another important characteristic in the relationship between inventors and patents is that it is a many-to-many relationship. Each individual patent can have one or more inventors (the flying machine’s invention by both Orville and Wilbur Wright, for example). Furthermore, each inventor can have one or more patents (Benjamin Franklin’s invention of both bifocals and the phonograph, for example). Another common relationship is a one-to-many relationship. For example, a company department may have many employees. However, each employee can belong to only one department at a time. (However, as is common with one-to-many relationships, adding the factor of time can transform them into many-to-many relationships. A particular employee may move from one department to another so that over time, she could potentially be associated with multiple departments, making another many-to-many relationship.)


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Listing 14.20 provides a sample listing of Employee and Department data, and Output 14.7 shows the results. Listing 14.20: Sample Employee and Department Data public class Department { public long Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public override string ToString() { return string.Format("{0}", Name); } } public class Employee { public int Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public string Title { get; set; } public int DepartmentId { get; set; } public override string ToString() { return string.Format("{0} ({1})", Name, Title); } } public static class CorporateData { public static readonly Department[] Departments = new Department[] { new Department(){ Name="Corporate", Id=0}, new Department(){ Name="Finance", Id=1}, new Department(){ Name="Engineering", Id=2}, new Department(){ Name="Information Technology", Id=3}, new Department(){ Name="Research", Id=4}, new Department(){ Name="Marketing", Id=5}, };



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public static readonly Employee[] Employees = new Employee[] { new Employee(){ Name="Mark Michaelis", Title="Chief Computer Nerd", DepartmentId = 0}, new Employee(){ Name="Michael Stokesbary", Title="Senior Computer Wizard", DepartmentId=2}, new Employee(){ Name="Brian Jones", Title="Enterprise Integration Guru", DepartmentId=2}, new Employee(){ Name="Jewel Floch", Title="Bookkeeper Extraordinaire", DepartmentId=1}, new Employee(){ Name="Robert Stokesbary", Title="Expert Mainframe Engineer", DepartmentId = 3}, new Employee(){ Name="Paul R. Bramsman", Title="Programmer Extraordinaire", DepartmentId = 2}, new Employee(){ Name="Thomas Heavey", Title="Software Architect", DepartmentId = 2}, new Employee(){ Name="John Michaelis", Title="Inventor", DepartmentId = 4} }; }

class Program { static void Main() { IEnumerable departments = CorporateData.Departments; Print(departments); Console.WriteLine(); IEnumerable<Employee> employees = CorporateData.Employees;


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Chapter 14: Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators Print(employees); } private static void Print(IEnumerable items) { foreach (T item in items) { Console.WriteLine(item); } } }

OUTPUT 14.7: Corporate Finance Engineering Information Technology Research Marketing Mark Michaelis (Chief Computer Nerd) Michael Stokesbary (Senior Computer Wizard) Brian Jones (Enterprise Integration Guru) Jewel Floch (Bookkeeper Extraordinaire) Robert Stokesbary (Expert Mainframe Engineer) Paul R. Bramsman (Programmer Extraordinaire) Thomas Heavey (Software Architect) John Michaelis (Inventor)

We will use the same data within the following section on joining data.

Performing an Inner Join with Join() In the world of objects on the client side, relationships between objects are generally already set up. For example, the relationship between files and the directories in which they lie are preestablished with the DirectoryInfo.GetFiles() method and the FileInfo.Directory method. Frequently, however, this is not the case with data being loaded from nonobject stores. Instead, the data needs to be joined together so that you can navigate from one type of object to the next in a way that makes sense for the data. Consider the example of employees and company departments. In Listing 14.21, we join each employee to his or her department and then list each employee with his or her corresponding department. Since each employee belongs to only one (and exactly one) department, the total number of items



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in the list is equal to the total number of employees—each employee appears only once (each employee is said to be normalized). Output 14.8 follows. Listing 14.21: An Inner Join Using System.Linq.Enumerable.Join() using System; using System.Linq; // ... Department[] departments = CorporateData.Departments; Employee[] employees = CorporateData.Employees; var items = employees.Join( departments, employee => employee.DepartmentId, department => department.Id, (employee, department) => new { employee.Id, employee.Name, employee.Title, Department = department }); foreach (var item in items) { Console.WriteLine("{0} ({1})", item.Name, item.Title); Console.WriteLine("\t" + item.Department); } // ...

OUTPUT 14.8: Mark Michaelis (Chief Computer Nerd) Corporate Michael Stokesbary (Senior Computer Wizard) Engineering Brian Jones (Enterprise Integration Guru) Engineering Jewel Floch (Bookkeeper Extraordinaire) Finance Robert Stokesbary (Expert Mainframe Engineer) Information Technology Paul R. Bramsman (Programmer Extraordinaire) Engineering Thomas Heavey (Software Architect) Engineering John Michaelis (Inventor) Research


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The first parameter for Join() has the name inner. It specifies the collection, departments, that employees joins to. The next two parameters are lambda expressions that specify how the two collections will connect. employee => employee.DepartmentId (with a parameter name of outerKeySelector) identifies that on each employee the key will be DepartmentId. The next lambda expression, (department => department.Id) specifies the Department’s Id property as the key. In other words, for each employee, join a department where employee.DepartmentId equals department.Id. The last parameter, the anonymous type, is the resultant item that is selected. In this case, it is a class with Employee’s Id, Name, and Title as well as a Department property with the joined department object. Notice in the output that Engineering appears multiple times—once for each employee in CorporateData. In this case, the Join() call produces a Cartesian product between all the departments and all the employees such that a new record is created for every case where a record exists in both collections and the specified department IDs are the same. This type of join is an inner join. The data could also be joined in reverse such that department joins to each employee so as to list each department-to-employee match. Notice that the output includes more records than there are departments because there are multiple employees for each department and the output is a record for each match. As we saw before, the Engineering department appears multiple times, once for each employee. The code in Listing 14.22 and Output 14.9 is similar to that in Listing 14.21, except that the objects, Departments and Employees, are reversed. The first parameter to Join() is employees, indicating what departments joins to. The next two parameters are lambda expressions that specify how the two collections will connect: department => department.Id for departments and employee => employee.DepartmentId for employees. Just like before, a join occurs whenever department.Id equals employee.EmployeeId. The final anonymous type parameter specifies a class with int Id, string Name, and Employee Employee properties. Listing 14.22: Another Inner Join with System.Linq.Enumerable.Join() using System; using System.Linq;



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// ... Department[] departments = CorporateData.Departments; Employee[] employees = CorporateData.Employees; var items = departments.Join( employees, department => department.Id, employee => employee.DepartmentId, (department, employee) => new { department.Id, department.Name, Employee = employee }); foreach (var item in items) { Console.WriteLine("{0}", item.Name); Console.WriteLine("\t" + item.Employee); } // ...

OUTPUT 14.9: Corporate Mark Michaelis (Chief Computer Nerd) Finance Jewel Floch (Bookkeeper Extraordinaire) Engineering Michael Stokesbary (Senior Computer Wizard) Engineering Brian Jones (Enterprise Integration Guru) Engineering Paul R. Bramsman (Programmer Extraordinaire) Engineering Thomas Heavey (Software Architect) Information Technology Robert Stokesbary (Expert Mainframe Engineer) Research John Michaelis (Inventor)

Grouping Results with GroupBy() In addition to ordering and joining a collection of objects, frequently you might want to group objects with like characteristics together. For the employee data, you might want to group employees by department,


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region, job title, and so forth. Listing 14.23 shows an example of how to do this using the GroupBy() standard query operator (see Output 14.10 to view the output). Listing 14.23: Grouping Items Together Using System.Linq.Enumerable.GroupBy() using System; using System.Linq; // ... IEnumerable<Employee> employees = CorporateData.Employees; IEnumerable groupedEmployees = employees.GroupBy((employee) => employee.DepartmentId); foreach(IGrouping employeeGroup in groupedEmployees) { Console.WriteLine(); foreach(Employee employee in employeeGroup) { Console.WriteLine("\t" + employee); } Console.WriteLine( "\tCount: " + employeeGroup.Count()); } // ...

OUTPUT 14.10: Mark Michaelis (Chief Computer Nerd) Count: 1 Michael Stokesbary (Senior Computer Wizard) Brian Jones (Enterprise Integration Guru) Paul R. Bramsman (Programmer Extraordinaire) Thomas Heavey (Software Architect) Count: 4 Jewel Floch (Bookkeeper Extraordinaire) Count: 1 Robert Stokesbary (Expert Mainframe Engineer) Count: 1 John Michaelis (Inventor) Count: 1



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Note that the items output from a GroupBy() call are of type IGrouping which has a property for the key that the query is grouping on (employee.DepartmentId). However, it does not have a property for the items within the group. Rather, IGrouping derives from IEnumerable, allowing for enumeration of the items within the group using a foreach statement or for aggregating the data into something such as a count of items (employeeGroup.Count()).

Implementing a One-to-Many Relationship with GroupJoin() Listing 14.21 and Listing 14.22 are virtually identical. Either Join() call could have produced the same output just by changing the anonymous type definition. When trying to create a list of employees, Listing 14.21 provides the correct result. department ends up as a property of each anonymous type representing the joined employee. However, Listing 14.22 is not optimal. Given support for collections, a preferable representation of a department would have a collection of employees rather than a single anonymous type record for each department-employee relationship. Listing 14.24 demonstrates; Output 14.11 shows the preferred output. Listing 14.24: Creating a Child Collection with System.Linq.Enumerable. GroupJoin() using System; using System.Linq; // ... Department[] departments = CorporateData.Departments; Employee[] employees = CorporateData.Employees; var items = departments.GroupJoin( employees, department => department.Id, employee => employee.DepartmentId, (department, departmentEmployees) => new { department.Id, department.Name,


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Chapter 14: Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators Employees = departmentEmployees }); foreach (var item in items) { Console.WriteLine("{0}", item.Name); foreach (Employee employee in item.Employees) { Console.WriteLine("\t" + employee); } } // ...

OUTPUT 14.11: Corporate Mark Michaelis (Chief Computer Nerd) Finance Jewel Floch (Bookkeeper Extraordinaire) Engineering Michael Stokesbary (Senior Computer Wizard) Brian Jones (Enterprise Integration Guru) Paul R. Bramsman (Programmer Extraordinaire) Thomas Heavey (Software Architect) Information Technology Robert Stokesbary (Expert Mainframe Engineer) Research John Michaelis (Inventor)

To achieve the preferred result we use System.Linq.Enumerable’s GroupJoin() method. The parameters are the same as those in Listing 14.21, except for the final anonymous type selected. In Listing 14.21, the lambda expression is of type Func, TResult> where TResult is the selected anonymous type. Notice that we use the second type argument (IEnumerable<Employee>) to project the collection of employees for each department onto the resultant department anonymous type. (Readers familiar with SQL will notice that, unlike Join(), GroupJoin() doesn’t have a SQL equivalent since data returned by SQL is record-based, and not hierarchical.)



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ADVANCED TOPIC Implementing an Outer Join with GroupJoin() The earlier inner joins are equi-joins because they are based on an equivalent evaluation of the keys. Records appear in the resultant collection only if there are objects in both collections. On occasion, however, it is desirable to create a record even if the corresponding object doesn’t exist. For example, rather than leave the Marketing department out from the final department list simply because it doesn’t have any employees, it would be preferable if we included it with an empty employee list. To accomplish this we perform a left outer join using a combination of both GroupJoin() and SelectMany() along with DefaultIfEmpty(). This is demonstrated in Listing 14.25 and Output 14.12. Listing 14.25: Implementing an Outer Join Using GroupJoin() with SelectMany() using System; using System.Linq; // ... Department[] departments = CorporateData.Departments; Employee[] employees = CorporateData.Employees; var items = departments.GroupJoin( employees, department => department.Id, employee => employee.DepartmentId, (department, departmentEmployees) => new { department.Id, department.Name, Employees = departmentEmployees }).SelectMany( departmentRecord => departmentRecord.Employees.DefaultIfEmpty(), (departmentRecord, employee) => new { departmentRecord.Id, departmentRecord.Name, Employees = departmentRecord.Employees }).Distinct();


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Chapter 14: Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators foreach (var item in items) { Console.WriteLine("{0}", item.Name); foreach (Employee employee in item.Employees) { Console.WriteLine("\t" + employee); } } // ...

OUTPUT 14.12: Corporate Mark Michaelis (Chief Computer Nerd) Finance Jewel Floch (Bookkeeper Extraordinaire) Engineering Michael Stokesbary (Senior Computer Wizard) Brian Jones (Enterprise Integration Guru) Paul R. Bramsman (Programmer Extraordinaire) Thomas Heavey (Software Architect) Information Technology Robert Stokesbary (Expert Mainframe Engineer) Research John Michaelis (Inventor) Marketing

Calling SelectMany() On occasion, you may have collections of collections. Listing 14.26 provides an example of such a scenario. The teams array contains two teams, each with a string array of players. Listing 14.26: Calling SelectMany() using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; // ... var worldCup2006Finalists = new[] { new { TeamName = "France", Players = new string[]



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{ "Fabien Barthez", "Gregory Coupet", "Mickael Landreau", "Eric Abidal", "Jean-Alain Boumsong", "Pascal Chimbonda", "William Gallas", "Gael Givet", "Willy Sagnol", "Mikael Silvestre", "Lilian Thuram", "Vikash Dhorasoo", "Alou Diarra", "Claude Makelele", "Florent Malouda", "Patrick Vieira", "Zinedine Zidane", "Djibril Cisse", "Thierry Henry", "Franck Ribery", "Louis Saha", "David Trezeguet", "Sylvain Wiltord", } }, new { TeamName = "Italy", Players = new string[] { "Gianluigi Buffon", "Angelo Peruzzi", "Marco Amelia", "Cristian Zaccardo", "Alessandro Nesta", "Gianluca Zambrotta", "Fabio Cannavaro", "Marco Materazzi", "Fabio Grosso", "Massimo Oddo", "Andrea Barzagli", "Andrea Pirlo", "Gennaro Gattuso", "Daniele De Rossi", "Mauro Camoranesi", "Simone Perrotta", "Simone Barone", "Luca Toni", "Alessandro Del Piero", "Francesco Totti", "Alberto Gilardino", "Filippo Inzaghi", "Vincenzo Iaquinta", } } }; IEnumerable<string> players = worldCup2006Finalists.SelectMany( team => team.Players); Print(players); // ...

The output from this listing has each player’s name displayed on its own line in the order in which it appears in the code. The difference between Select() and SelectMany() is the fact that Select() would return two items, one corresponding to each item in the original collection.


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Chapter 14: Collection Interfaces with Standard Query Operators Select() may project out a transform from the original type, but the num-

ber of items would not change. For example, teams.Select(team => team.Players) will return an IEnumerable<string[]>. In contrast, SelectMany() iterates across each item identified by the lambda expression (the array selected by Select() earlier) and hoists out each item into a new collection that includes a union of all items within the child collection. Instead of two arrays of players, SelectMany() combines each array selected and produces a single collection of all items.

More Standard Query Operators Listing 14.27 shows code that uses some of the simpler APIs enabled by Enumerable; Output 14.13 shows the results. Listing 14.27: More System.Linq.Enumerable Method Calls using using using using

System; System.Collections.Generic; System.Linq; System.Text;

class Program { static void Main() { IEnumerable stuff = new object[] { new object(), 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, "\"thing\"", Guid.NewGuid() }; Print("Stuff: {0}", stuff); IEnumerable even = new int[] { 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 }; Print("Even integers: {0}", even); IEnumerable odd = stuff. OfType(); Print("Odd integers: {0}", odd); IEnumerable numbers = even. Union(odd); Print("Union of odd and even: {0}", numbers); Print("Union with even: {0}", numbers. Union(even)); Print("Concat with odd: {0}", numbers. Concat(odd)); Print("Intersection with even: {0}", numbers. Intersect(even)); Print("Distinct: {0}", numbers.Concat(odd).Distinct()); if (!numbers. SequenceEqual( numbers.Concat(odd).Distinct())) { throw new Exception("Unexpectedly unequal");



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} else { Console.WriteLine( @"Collection ""SequenceEquals""" + " collection.Concat(odd).Distinct())"); Print("Reverse: {0}", numbers. Reverse()); Print("Average: {0}", numbers. Average()); Print("Sum: {0}", numbers.Sum()); Print("Max: {0}", numbers.Max() ); Print("Min: {0}", numbers.Min() ); } } private static void Print( string format, IEnumerable items) { StringBuilder text = new StringBuilder(); foreach (T item in items.Take(items. Count() -1)) { text.Append(item + ", "); } text.Append(items. Last()); Console.WriteLine(format, text); } private static void Print(string format, T item) { Console.WriteLine(format, item); } }

OUTPUT 14.13: Stuff: System.Object, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, "thing", 24c24a41-ee05-41b9-958e50dd12e3981e Even integers: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 Odd integers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 Union of odd and even: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 Union with even: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 Concat with odd: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 Intersection with even: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8 Distinct: 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 Collection "SequenceEquals"collection.Concat(odd).Distinct()) Reverse: 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, 8, 6, 4, 2, 0 Average: 4.5 Sum: 45 Max: 9 Min: 0


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None of the API calls in Listing 14.20 require a lambda expression. Table 14.1 and Table 14.2 describe each method and provide an example. TABLE 14.1: Simpler Standard Query Operators

Comment Type

Description

OfType()

Forms a query over a collection that returns only the items of a particular type, where the type is identified in the type parameter of the OfType() method call.

Union()

Combines two collections to form a superset of all the items in both collections. The final collection does not include duplicate items even if the same item existed in both collections to start.

Concat()

Combines two collections together to form a superset of both collections. Duplicate items are not removed from the resultant collection. Concat()will preserve the ordering. That is, concatting {A, B} with {C, D} will produce {A, B, C, D}.

Intersect()

Extracts the collection of items that exist in both original collections.

Distinct()

Filters out duplicate items from a collection so that each item within the resultant collection is unique.

SequenceEquals()

Compares two collections and returns a Boolean indicating whether the collections are identical, including the order of items within the collection. (This is a very helpful message when testing expected results.)

Reverse()

Reverses the items within a collection so that they occur in reverse order when iterating over the collection.

Included on System.Linq.Enumerable is a collection of aggregate functions that enumerate the collection and calculate a result. Count is one example of an aggregate function already shown within the chapter.



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TABLE 14.2: Aggregate Functions on System.Linq.Enumerable

Comment Type

Description

Count()

Provides a total count of the number of items within the collection

Average()

Calculates the average value for a numeric key selector

Sum()

Computes the sum values within a numeric collection

Max()

Determines the maximum value among a collection of numeric values

Min()

Determines the minimum value among a collection of numeric values

Note that each method listed in Tables 14.1 and 14.2 will trigger deferred execution.

ADVANCED TOPIC Queryable Extensions for IQueryable One virtually identical interface to IEnumerable is IQueryable. Because IQueryable derives from IEnumerable, it has all the members of IEnumerable but only those declared directly (GetEnumerator(), for example). Extension methods are not inherited, so IQueryable doesn’t have any of the Enumerable extension methods. However, it has a similar extending class called System.Linq.Queryable that adds to IQueryable virtually all of the same methods that Enumerable added to IEnumerable. Therefore, it provides a very similar programming interface. What makes IQueryable unique is the fact that it enables custom LINQ providers. A LINQ provider subdivides expressions into their constituent parts. Once divided, the expression can be translated into another language, serialized for remote execution, injected with an asynchronous execution pattern, and much more. Essentially, LINQ providers allow for


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an interception mechanism into a standard collection API, and via this seemingly limitless functionality, behavior relating to the queries and collection can be injected. For example, LINQ providers allow for the translation of a query expression from C# into SQL that is then executed on a remote database. In so doing, the C# programmer can remain in her primary object-oriented language and leave the translation to SQL to the underlying LINQ provider. Through this type of expression, programming languages are able to span the impedance mismatch between the object-oriented world and the relational database. In the case of IQueryable, vigilance regarding deferred execution is even more critical. Imagine, for example, a LINQ provider that returns data from a database. Rather than retrieve the data from a database regardless of the selection criteria, the lambda expression would provide an implementation of IQueryable that possibly includes context information such as the connection string, but not the data itself. The data retrieval wouldn’t occur until the call to GetEnumerator() or even MoveNext(). However, the GetEnumerator() call is generally implicit, such as when iterating over the collection with foreach or calling an Enumerable method such as Count() or Cast(). Obviously, cases such as this require developers to be wary of the subtle and repeated calls to any expensive operation that deferred execution might involve. For example, if calling GetEnumerator() involves a distributed call over the network to a database, avoid unintentional duplicate calls to iterations with Count() or foreach.

SUMMARY After introducing anonymous types, implicit variables, and collection initializers, this chapter described the internals of how the foreach loop works and what interfaces are required for its execution. In addition, developers frequently filter a collection so that there are fewer items and project the collection so that the items take a different form. Toward that end, this chapter discussed the details of how to use the standard query


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operators, common collection APIs on the System.Linq.Enumerable class, to perform collection manipulation. In the introduction to standard query operators, we spent a few pages detailing deferred execution and how developers should take care to avoid unintentionally reexecuting an expression via a subtle call that enumerates over the collection contents. The deferred execution and resultant implicit execution of standard query operators is a significant quality, especially when the query execution is expensive. Programmers should treat the query object as the query object, not the results, and expect the query to execute fully even if it executed already. The query object doesn’t know that the results will be the same as they were during a previous execution. Listing 14.25 appeared within an Advanced Topic section because of the complexity of calling multiple standard query operators one after the other. Although requirements for similar execution may be common, it is not necessary to rely on standard query operators directly. C# 3.0 includes query expressions, a SQL-like syntax for manipulating collections in a way that is frequently easier to code and read, as I’ll show in the next chapter.




15 LINQ with Query Expressions

T

14 showed a query using standard query operators for GroupJoin(), SelectMany(), and Distinct(), in addition to the creation of two anonymous types. The result was a statement that spanned multiple lines and was fairly complex to comprehend, certainly a lot more complex than statements typically written in C# 2.0, even though it appears fully compatible with C# 2.0 syntax. The introduction of standard query operators facilitated scenarios where such complex statements were desirable even though the resultant code may be complex and hard to read. In addition, the queries which standard query operators implemented were functionally very similar to queries generally implemented in SQL. HE END OF CHAPTER

1

Introducing Query Expressions

Query Expressions

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As Method Invocations

Projection

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Features Filtering Sorting Let Grouping

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The culmination of these two factors resulted in the C# language designers adding a new syntax to C# 3.0: query expressions. With query expressions, many standard query operator statements are transformed into more readable code, code that looks very much like SQL. In this chapter, I introduce the new syntax of query expressions and use this syntax to explain how to express many of the queries from the preceding chapter.

Introducing Query Expressions Besides iterating over all the items within a collection, one of the most frequent operations developers perform is filtering the collection so that there are fewer items to iterate over or projecting the collection so that the items take a different form. For example, given a collection of files, we could filter it vertically to create a new collection of only the files with a “.cs” extension, or only the ten largest files. Alternatively, we could project across the file collection to create a new collection of paths to the directories the files are located in and the corresponding directory size. There are many ways to perform this type of operation, but one of the easiest was introduced in C# 3.0: query expressions. Query expressions always begin with a “from clause” and end with a “select clause” or a “groupby clause”. Each clause is identified by the from, select, or group contextual keywords, respectively. Listing 15.1 shows a query expression example and Output 15.1 shows the results. Listing 15.1: Simple Query Expression using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; // ... static string[] Keywords = { "abstract", "add*", "alias*", "as", "ascending*", "base", "bool", "break", "by*", "byte", "case", "catch", "char", "checked", "class", "const", "continue", "decimal", "default", "delegate", "descending*", "do", "double", "dynamic*", "else", "enum", "event", "equals*", "explicit", "extern", "false", "finally", "fixed", "from*", "float", "for", "foreach", "get*", "global*",



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"group*", "goto", "if", "implicit", "in", "int", "into*", "interface", "internal", "is", "lock", "long", "join*", "let*", "namespace", "new", "null", "object", "on*", "operator", "orderby*", "out", "override", "params", "partial*", "private", "protected", "public", "readonly", "ref", "remove*", "return", "sbyte", "sealed", "select*", "set*", "short", "sizeof", "stackalloc", "static", "string", "struct", "switch", "this", "throw", "true", "try", "typeof", "uint", "ulong", "unchecked", "unsafe", "ushort", "using", "value*", "var*", "virtual", "void", "volatile", "where*", "while", "yield*"}; private static void ShowContextualKeywords1() { IEnumerable<string> selection = from word in Keywords where !word.Contains('*') select word; foreach (string keyword in selection) { Console.Write(" " + keyword); } } // ...

OUTPUT 15.1: abstract as base bool break byte case catch char checked class const continue decimal default delegate do double else enum event explicit extern false finally fixed float for foreach goto if implicit in int interface internal is lock long namespace new null object operator out override params private protected public readonly ref return sbyte sealed short sizeof stackalloc static string struct switch this throw true try typeof uint ulong unchecked unsafe ushort using virtual void volatile while

In this query expression, selection is assigned the collection of C# keywords but not contextual keywords. The query expression in this example includes a where clause that filters out the noncontextual keywords. Developers familiar with SQL will notice that query expressions have a syntax that is similar to that of SQL so as to be familiar to the thousands of programmers who know SQL. In spite of the similarities, however, there are some obvious inconsistencies. The most notable of these is the fact that rather than starting an expression with select, as SQL so often does, C# query expressions begin with the contextual keyword from.


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The reason for this is to enable IntelliSense, or the ability to predict the members on the objects being selected. For example, because from appears first and identifies the string array Keywords as the data source, the code editor knows that word is of type string. This enables IntelliSense—member access (a dot operation) on word will display only the members of string. If the from clause appeared after the select, then any dot operations prior to the from clause would not know what the data type of word was and, therefore, would not be able to display a list of word’s members. In Listing 15.1, for example, it wouldn’t be possible to predict that Contains() was a possible member of word. word is referred to as a range variable; it represents each item in the collection.

Projection The output of a query expression is an IEnumerable or IQueryable collection.1 The data type of T is inferred from the select or groupby clause. In Listing 15.1, for example, the data type of string is inferred from select word because word is a string. word’s data type is the type argument of the IEnumerable collection in the from clause. Since Keywords is a string array, it implements IEnumerable<string>, and therefore, word is a string. The type resulting from an expression which queries a collection of a certain type is by no means limited to be a sequence of that original type. Rather, the select clause allows for projection of data into an entirely different type. Consider the query expression in Listing 15.2, and its corresponding output in Output 15.2. Listing 15.2: Projection Using Query Expressions using using using using

System; System.Collections.Generic; System.Linq; System.IO;

// ...

1. Query expression output is practically always IEnumerable, but theoretically, not necessarily. Nothing is stopping anyone from coming up with an implementation of the query operators that returns something else. To do so would be somewhat perverse, but there is no requirement in the language that query operators return IEnumerable.



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static void List1(string rootDirectory, string searchPattern) { IEnumerable files = from fileName in Directory.GetFiles( rootDirectory, searchPattern) select new FileInfo(fileName); foreach (FileInfo file in files) { Console.WriteLine(".{0}({1})", file.Name, file.LastWriteTime); } } // ...

OUTPUT 15.2: Account.cs(11/22/2007 11:56:11 AM) Bill.cs(8/10/2007 9:33:55 PM) Contact.cs(8/19/2007 11:40:30 PM) Customer.cs(11/17/2007 2:02:52 AM) Employee.cs(8/17/2007 1:33:22 AM) Person.cs(10/22/2007 10:00:03 PM)

Notice that this query expression returns an IEnumerable rather than the IEnumerable<string> data type returned by System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(). The select clause of the query expression can potentially project out a data type that is different from what was collected by the from clause expression (Directory.GetFiles()). In fact, projection such as this is the key driving factor for why C# 3.0 includes anonymous types within the language. Via anonymous types, it becomes possible to select out the exact data you seek without having to define an explicit type. For example, Listing 15.3 provides output similar to that in Listing 15.2, but via anonymous types rather than FileInfo. Listing 15.3: Anonymous Types within Query Expressions using using using using


// ... static void List2(string rootDirectory, string searchPattern) {


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Chapter 15: LINQ with Query Expressions var files = from fileName in Directory.GetFiles( rootDirectory, searchPattern) select new { Name = fileName, LastWriteTime = File.GetLastWriteTime(fileName) }; foreach (var file in files) { Console.WriteLine("{0}({1})", file.Name, file.LastWriteTime); } } // ...

In this example, the query projects out only the filename and its last file write time. A projection such as the one in Listing 15.3 makes little difference when working with something small such as FileInfo. However, horizontal projection that filters down the amount of data associated with each item in the collection is extremely powerful when the amount of data is significant and retrieving it (perhaps from a different computer over the Internet) is expensive. Rather than retrieving all the data when a query executes, the use of anonymous types enables the capability of storing and retrieving only the required data into the collection. Imagine, for example, a large database that has tables with 30 or more columns. If there were no anonymous types, developers would be required to either use objects containing unnecessary information or define small, specialized classes useful only for storing the specific data required. Instead, anonymous types enable support for types to be defined by the compiler—types that contain only the data needed for their immediate scenario. Other scenarios can have a different projection of only the properties needed for that scenario.

BEGINNER TOPIC Deferred Execution with Query Expressions The topic of deferred execution appeared in the preceding chapter as well. The same principles also apply to query expressions. Consider again the assignment of selection in Listing 15.1. The assignment itself does not



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execute the query expression. In other words, during the assignment of selection, word.Contains("*") is not called. Rather, the query expression saves off the selection criteria to be used when iterating over the collection identified by the selection variable. To demonstrate this point, consider Listing 15.4 and the corresponding output (Output 15.3). Listing 15.4: Deferred Execution and Query Expressions (Example 1) using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; // ... private static void ShowContextualKeywords2() { IEnumerable<string> selection = from word in Keywords where IsKeyword(word) select word; foreach (string keyword in selection) { Console.Write(keyword); } } // Side effect (console output) included in predicate to show // deferred execution not as a best practice. private static bool IsKeyword(string word) { if (word.Contains('*')) { Console.Write(" "); return true; } else { return false; } } // ...

OUTPUT 15.3: add* alias* ascending* by* descending* dynamic* equals* from* get* global* group* into* join* let* on* orderby* partial* remove* select* set* value* var* where* yield*


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Notice that in Listing 15.4, no space is output within the foreach loop. The space between the contextual keywords is output in the IsKeyword() function, demonstrating that the IsKeyword() function isn’t called until the code iterates over selection rather than when selection is assigned. The point is that although selection is a collection (it is of type IEnumerable after all), at the time of assignment everything following the from clause comprises the selection criteria. Not until we begin to iterate over selection are the criteria applied. Consider a second example (see Listing 15.5 and Output 15.4). Listing 15.5: Deferred Execution and Query Expressions (Example 2) using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; // ... private static void CountContextualKeywords() { int delegateInvocations = 0; Func<string, string> func = text=> { delegateInvocations++; return text; }; IEnumerable<string> selection = from keyword in Keywords where keyword.Contains('*') select func(keyword);

Console.WriteLine( "1. delegateInvocations={0}", delegateInvocations); // Executing count should invoke func once for // each item selected. Console.WriteLine( "2. Contextual keyword count={0}", selection.Count()); Console.WriteLine( "3. delegateInvocations={0}", delegateInvocations); // Executing count should invoke func once for



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// each item selected. Console.WriteLine( "4. Contextual keyword count={0}", selection.Count()); Console.WriteLine( "5. delegateInvocations={0}", delegateInvocations); // Cache the value so future counts will not trigger // another invocation of the query. List<string> selectionCache = selection.ToList(); Console.WriteLine( "6. delegateInvocations={0}", delegateInvocations); // Retrieve the count from the cached collection. Console.WriteLine( "7. selectionCache count={0}",selectionCache.Count()); Console.WriteLine( "8. delegateInvocations={0}", delegateInvocations); } // ...

OUTPUT 15.4: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

delegateInvocations=0 Contextual keyword count=15 delegateInvocations=15 Contextual keyword count=15 delegateInvocations=30 delegateInvocations=45 selectionCache count=15 delegateInvocations=45

Rather than defining a separate method, Listing 15.5 uses an anonymous method that counts the number of times the method is called. Three things in the output are remarkable. First, notice that after selection is assigned, DelegateInvocations remains at zero. At the time of assignment to selection, no iteration over Keywords is performed. If Keywords were a property, the property call would run—in other words, the from clause executes at the time of assignment. However, neither the projection, the filtering, nor anything after the from clause will execute until the code iterates over the values within selection. It is as though at the


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time of assignment, selection would more appropriately be called “query.” However, once we call Count(), a term such as selection or items that indicates a container or collection is appropriate because we begin to count the items within the collection. In other words, the variable selection serves a dual purpose of saving the query information as well as acting like a container from which the data is retrieved. A second important characteristic to notice is that calling Count() twice causes func to again be invoked once on each item selected. Since selection behaves both as a query and as a collection, requesting the count requires that the query be executed again by iterating over the IEnumerable<string> collection selection refers to and counting the items—returning the most up-to-date results. Similarly, a foreach loop over selection would trigger func to be called again for each item. The same is true of all the other extension methods provided via System.Linq.Enumerable.

Filtering In Listing 15.1, we include a where clause that filters out pure keywords but not contextual keywords. The where clause filters the collection vertically so that there are fewer items within the collection. The filter criteria are expressed with a predicate—a lambda expression that returns a bool such as word.Contains() (as in Listing 15.1) or File.GetLastWriteTime(file) < DateTime.Now.AddMonths(-1) (as in Listing 15.6, the output of which appears in Output 15.5). Listing 15.6: Anonymous Types within Query Expressions using using using using


// ... static void FindMonthOldFiles( string rootDirectory, string searchPattern) { IEnumerable files = from fileName in Directory.GetFiles( rootDirectory, searchPattern)



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where File.GetLastWriteTime(fileName) < DateTime.Now.AddMonths(-1) select new FileInfo(fileName); foreach (FileInfo file in files) { // As simplification, current directory is // assumed to be a subdirectory of // rootDirectory string relativePath = file.FullName.Substring( Environment.CurrentDirectory.Length); Console.WriteLine(".{0}({1})", relativePath, file.LastWriteTime); } } // ...

OUTPUT 15.5: .\TestData\Bill.cs(8/10/2007 9:33:55 PM) .\TestData\Contact.cs(8/19/2007 11:40:30 PM) .\TestData\Employee.cs(8/17/2007 1:33:22 AM) .\TestData\Person.cs(10/22/2007 10:00:03 PM)

Sorting To order the items using a query expression we rely on the orderby clause (see Listing 15.7). Listing 15.7: Sorting Using a Query Expression with an orderby Clause using using using using


// ... static void ListByFileSize1( string rootDirectory, string searchPattern) { IEnumerable<string> fileNames = from fileName in Directory.GetFiles( rootDirectory, searchPattern) orderby (new FileInfo(fileName)).Length descending, fileName select fileName;


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Chapter 15: LINQ with Query Expressions foreach (string fileName in fileNames) { Console.WriteLine("{0}", fileName); } } // ...

Listing 15.7 uses the orderby clause to sort the files returned by Directory.GetFiles() first by file size in descending order and then by filename in ascending order. Multiple sort criteria are separated by a comma such that first the items are ordered by size, and if the size is the same they are ordered by filename. ascending and descending are contextual keywords indicating the sort order direction. Specifying the order as ascending or descending is optional (filename order is absent); if the direction is omitted, the default is ascending.

The Let Clause In Listing 15.8, we have a query that is very similar to that in Listing 15.7, except that the type argument of IEnumerable is FileInfo. One of the problems with the groupby clause in Listing 15.8 is that in order to evaluate the size of the file, an instance of FileInfo needs to be available in both the orderby clause and the select clause. Listing 15.8: Projecting a FileInfo Collection and Sorting by File Size using using using using


// ... static void ListByFileSize2( string rootDirectory, string searchPattern) { IEnumerable files = from fileName in Directory.GetFiles( rootDirectory, searchPattern) orderby new FileInfo(fileName).Length, fileName select new FileInfo(fileName); foreach (FileInfo file in files) { // As simplification, current directory is // assumed to be a subdirectory of



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// rootDirectory string relativePath = file.FullName.Substring( Environment.CurrentDirectory.Length); Console.WriteLine(".{0}({1})", relativePath, file.Length); } } // ...

Unfortunately, although the end result is correct, Listing 15.8 ends up instantiating a FileInfo object twice for each item in the source collection. FileInfo is instantiated not only in the select clause, but also when the orderby clause is evaluated. To avoid unnecessary overhead like this—overhead that could potentially be expensive—the query expression syntax includes a let expression, as demonstrated in Listing 15.9. Listing 15.9: Ordering the Results in a Query Expression using using using using


// ... static void ListByFileSize3( string rootDirectory, string searchPattern) { IEnumerable files = from fileName in Directory.GetFiles( rootDirectory, searchPattern) let file = new FileInfo(fileName) orderby file.Length, fileName select file; foreach (FileInfo file in files) { // As simplification, current directory is // assumed to be a subdirectory of // rootDirectory string relativePath = file.FullName.Substring( Environment.CurrentDirectory.Length); Console.WriteLine(".{0}({1})", relativePath, file.Length); } } // ...


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The let clause provides a location to place an expression that is used throughout the query expression. To place a second let expression, simply add it as an additional clause to the query after the first from clause but before the final select/group by clause. No operator is needed to separate out the expressions.

Grouping Another common collection scenario is the grouping of items. In SQL, this generally involves aggregating the items into a summary header or total—an aggregate value. However, C# is more expressive than this. In addition to providing aggregate information about each grouping, query expressions allow for the individual items in the group to form a series of subcollections to each item in the overall parent list. For example, it is possible to group the contextual keywords separately from the regular keywords and automatically associate the individual words within the keyword type grouping to each other. Listing 15.10 and Output 15.6 demonstrate the query expression. Listing 15.10: Grouping Together Query Results using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; // ... private static void GroupKeywords1() { IEnumerable selection = from word in Keywords group word by word.Contains('*'); foreach (IGrouping wordGroup in selection) { Console.WriteLine(Environment.NewLine + "{0}:", wordGroup.Key ? "Contextual Keywords" : "Keywords"); foreach (string keyword in wordGroup) { Console.Write(" " + (wordGroup.Key ? keyword.Replace("*", null) : keyword)); }



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} } // ...

OUTPUT 15.6: Keywords: abstract as base bool break byte case catch char checked class const continue decimal default delegate do double else enum event explicit extern false finally fixed float for foreach goto if implicit in int interface internal is lock long namespace new null object operator out override params private protected public readonly ref return sbyte sealed short sizeof stackalloc static string struct switch this throw true try typeof uint ulong unchecked unsafe ushort using virtual void volatile while Contextual Keywords: add alias ascending by descending dynamic equals from get global group into join let on orderby partial remove select set value var where yield

There are several things to note in this listing. First, each item in the list is of type IGrouping. The type parameters of IGrouping are determined by the data type following group and by—that is, TElement is a string because word is a string. Type parameter TKey is determined by the data type following by. In this case, word.Contains() returns a Boolean, so TKey is a bool. A second characteristic of a query expression’s groupby clause is the fact that it enables a nested foreach loop via which the code can iterate over the subcollection mentioned earlier in this section. In Listing 15.10, we first iterate over the groupings and print out the type of keyword as a header. Nested within the first iteration is a second foreach loop that prints each keyword as an item below the header. Third, we can append a select clause to the end of a groupby clause, allowing support for projection (see Listing 15.11 and Output 15.7). More generally, the addition of the select clause is enabled via query continuation—any query body that handles the elements of the first query can be appended to the first query body. Listing 15.11: Selecting an Anonymous Type Following the groupby Clause using System; using System.Collections.Generic;


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Chapter 15: LINQ with Query Expressions using System.Linq; // ... private static void GroupKeywords1() { IEnumerable keywordGroups = from word in Keywords group word by word.Contains('*'); var selection = from groups in keywordGroups select new { IsContextualKeyword = groups.Key, Items = groups }; foreach (var wordGroup in selection) { Console.WriteLine(Environment.NewLine + "{0}:", wordGroup.IsContextualKeyword ? "Contextual Keywords" : "Keywords"); foreach (var keyword in wordGroup.Items) { Console.Write(" " + keyword.Replace("*", null)); } } } // ...

OUTPUT 15.7: Keywords: abstract as base bool break byte case catch char checked class const continue decimal default delegate do double else enum event explicit extern false finally fixed float for foreach goto if implicit in int interface internal is lock long namespace new null object operator out override params private protected public readonly ref return sbyte sealed short sizeof stackalloc static string struct switch this throw true try typeof uint ulong unchecked unsafe ushort using virtual void volatile while Contextual Keywords: add alias ascending by descending dynamic equals from get global group into join let on orderby partial remove select set value var where yield

The groupby clause returns a collection of IGrouping objects—just as the GroupBy() standard query operator did (see Chapter 14).



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The select clause defines an anonymous type, renaming IGrouping.Key to be IsContextualKeyword and naming the subcollection property Items. With this change, the nested foreach uses wordGroup.Items rather than wordGroup directly, as shown in Listing 15.10. Another potential property to add to the anonymous type would be the count of items within the subcollection. However, this is available on wordGroup. Items.Count(), so the benefit of adding it to the anonymous type directly is questionable.

Query Continuation with into Following the groupby query is a second query that projects out an anonymous type from the grouping. Rather than write an additional query, you can extend the query with a query continuation clause using the contextual keyword into that allows you to name each item returned by the groupby clause with a range variable (groups in Listing 15.11). The into clause serves as a generator for additional query commands—specifically, a select clause, as shown in Listing 15.12. Listing 15.12: Selecting without the Query Continuation using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; // ... private static void GroupKeywords1() { var selection = from word in Keywords group word by word.Contains('*') into groups select new { IsContextualKeyword = groups.Key, Items = groups }; // ... } // ...


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The ability to run additional queries on the results of an existing query using into is not specific to groupby clauses, but rather is a feature of all query expressions. Query continuation provides a form of shorthand in place of writing multiple individual query expressions. The query in Listing 15.12 is identical to the one in Listing 15.11, but without using into. In other words, into shortcuts the need to write a second query using the results of the first query; it serves as a pipeline operator, combining the results of the first query with those of the second query.

BEGINNER TOPIC Distinct Members Often, it is desirable to return only distinct items from within a collection—all duplicates are combined into a single item. Query expressions don’t have explicit syntax for distinct members, but the functionality is available via the query operator Distinct(), as introduced in the preceding chapter. Listing 15.13 demonstrates calling it directly from the query expression, and Output 15.8 shows the results. Listing 15.13: Obtaining Distinct Members from a Query Expression using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; // ... public static void ListMemberNames() { IEnumerable<string> enumerableMethodNames = ( from method in typeof(Enumerable).GetMembers( System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Static | System.Reflection.BindingFlags.Public) select method.Name).Distinct(); foreach(string method in enumerableMethodNames) { Console.Write(" {0},", method); } } // ...



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OUTPUT 15.8: Enumerable methods are: First, FirstOrDefault, Last, LastOrDefault, Single, SingleOrDefault, ElementAt, ElementAtOrDefault, Repeat, Empty, Any, All, Count, LongCount, Contains, Aggregate, Sum, Min, Max, Average, Where, Select, SelectMany, Take, TakeWhile, Skip, SkipWhile, Join, GroupJoin, OrderBy, OrderByDescending, ThenBy, ThenByDescending, GroupBy, Concat, Distinct, Union, Intersect, Except, Reverse, SequenceEqual, AsEnumerable, ToArray, ToList, ToDictionary, ToLookup, DefaultIfEmpty, OfType, Cast, Range

In this example, typeof(Enumerable).GetMembers() returns a list of all the members (methods, properties, and so on) on System.Linq.Enumerable. However, many of these members are overloaded, sometimes more than once. Rather than displaying the same member multiple times, Distinct() is called from the query expression. This eliminates the duplicate names from the list. (I cover the details of typeof() and GetMembers() in Chapter 17.)

ADVANCED TOPIC Query Expression Compilation Under the covers, a query expression is a series of method calls to the underlying API. The CIL itself does not have any concept of query expressions. In fact, except for some corner cases with expression trees, there was no change to the underlying CLR in order to support query expressions. Rather, query expressions were supported via changes to the C# compiler only. This worked because the compiler translates the query expression to method calls. For example, the query expression from Listing 15.1 translates to a call to System.Linq.Enumerable’s Where() extension method and becomes Keywords.Where<string>(). The criteria identified by the where clause are just like they were in the Where() (or FindAll()) method described in the preceding chapter.

ADVANCED TOPIC Implementing Implicit Execution The capability of saving the selection criteria into selection (see Listing 15.1) rather than executing the query at the time of assignment is implemented through delegates. The compiler translates the query expression to methods


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on the target (that is, Keywords) that take delegates as parameters. Delegates are objects that save information about what code to execute when the delegate is called, and since delegates contain only the data regarding what to execute, they can be stored until a later time when they are executed. In the case of collections that implement IQueryable (LINQ providers), the lambda expressions are translated into expression trees. An expression tree is a hierarchical data structure broken down recursively into subexpressions. Each subexpression represents a portion of the lambda expression that is further broken down until each part is the most fundamental unit that can no longer be broken down. Frequently, expression trees are then enumerated and reconstructed as the original expression tree is translated into another language, such as SQL.

Query Expressions as Method Invocations In spite of the power and relative simplicity associated with query expressions, the CLR and IL do not require any query expression implementation. Rather, the C# compiler translates query expressions into method calls. Consider, for example, the query expression from Listing 15.1, a portion of which appears in Listing 15.14. Listing 15.14: Simple Query Expression private static void ShowContextualKeywords1() { IEnumerable<string> selection = from word in Keywords where word.Contains('*') select word; // ... } // ...

After compilation, the expression from Listing 15.14 is converted to an IEnumerable extension method call from System.Linq.Enumerable, as shown in Listing 15.15. Listing 15.15: Query Expression Translated to Standard Query Operator Syntax private static void ShowContextualKeywords3() {


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IEnumerable<string> selection = Keywords.Where(word => word.Contains('*')); // ... } // ...

Furthermore, as discussed in Chapter 14, the lambda expression is translated to IL corresponding to a delegate invocation. Moreover, the combination of extension methods and lambda expressions provides a superset of the functionality available through query expressions. For example, there is no query expression equivalent for the extension method TakeWhile(Func predicate), which repeatedly returns items from the collection as long as the predicate returns true. Not all method invocations can be translated to query expressions, but the reverse, translating from query expressions to method expressions, is always possible. Regardless, where translation is possible in either direction, it is not consistently more understandable. Some queries are better suited for query expressions whereas others are more readable as method invocations. I find the general rule is to use query expressions where possible, but to rely on method invocations otherwise. Regardless, it is frequently helpful to refactor a complex query into multiple statements or even methods.

SUMMARY This chapter introduced a new syntax, that of query expressions. Readers familiar with SQL will immediately see the similarities between query expressions and SQL. However, query expressions also introduce additional functionality, such as grouping into a hierarchical set of new objects, which was unavailable with SQL. All of the functionality of query expressions was already available via standard query operators, but query expressions frequently provide a simpler syntax for expressing such a query. Whether through standard query operators or query expression syntax, however, the end result is a significant improvement in the way developers are able to code against collection APIs, an improvement that


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ultimately provides a paradigm shift in the way object-oriented languages are able to interface with relational databases. In the next chapter, we continue our discussion of collections: investigating some of the .NET Framework collection types as well as how to define custom collections.


16 Building Custom Collections

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14 COVERED standard query operators, a set of extension methods on IEnumerable that added a common set of methods to all collections. However, this did not make all collections the same. There is still a strong need for different collection types. Some collections are better suited to searching by key, whereas others are better suited to index HAPTER

Defining Syntax yield State yield break

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Returning null or an Empty Collection

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IList IDictionary IComparable ICollection

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retrieval. Similarly, some collections follow a queue behavior of first in, first out, whereas others are more like a stack, as in last in, last out. The .NET Framework contains a plethora of different collections suited for the vast array of scenarios in which collections are needed. This chapter provides an introduction to many of these collections, along with more collection interfaces. Furthermore, the chapter introduces how to define a custom collection that supports standard collection functionality, such as indexing and foreach iteration via iterators. Iterators not only encapsulate the internal data structure of the collection classes, but they also improve control over end-user access and the use of data within a collection. Perhaps the most prevalent use of generics in any language is in the area of collections. Collections deal with sets of like objects and with managing those objects as a group. This chapter looks at the collection classes provided with the runtime and how you use them within your applications. It also covers the various collection interfaces and how they relate to each other, and it includes a discussion of how to create custom collections using iterators. This C# 2.0 feature simplifies implementation of how the foreach statement iterates over the elements in a collection. There are two types of collection-related classes: those that support generics and those that don’t. This chapter primarily discusses the generic collection classes. Generally, you should use collection classes that don’t support generics only when writing components that need to interoperate with earlier versions of the runtime. This is because everything that was available in the nongeneric form has a generic replacement that is strongly typed. In this edition, I focus on the generic collections and do not discuss nongeneric collection types.

More Collection Interfaces This section delves into the collection-related interfaces to help you understand the common capabilities of all collection classes and where the commonalities possibly diverge.



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Figure 16.1 shows the hierarchy of interfaces that make up the collection classes.

Figure 16.1: Generic Collection Interface Hierarchy

You use these interfaces to establish capabilities such as iterating over a collection using a foreach loop, indexing into a collection, and determining the total number of elements in a collection. This section examines these interfaces, starting at the bottom of Figure 16.1 and moving up.


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IList versus IDictionary In a sense, lists are just the special case of dictionaries where the “key” is always an integer, and the key set is always a contiguous set of non-negative integers starting with zero. But that is a strong enough difference that it is worth having an entirely different class to represent it. When selecting a collection class, the first two interfaces to look for are IList and IDictionary. These interfaces determine whether the collection type is focused on retrieval via index or retrieval via key. If the type of collection you are using should be key-centric, use a collection class that implements the IDictionary interface. Alternatively, the IList interface provides support for element retrieval via index. In other words, although both of these interfaces require that the indexer be implemented, the implementations are fundamentally different. In the case of IList, the parameter passed to the array operator corresponds to the index of the element being retrieved, the nth element in the list. In the case of the IDictionary interface, the parameter corresponds to the key of a previously inserted element. When you assign using the key, a new item will be inserted if one doesn’t already exist for the specified key. IComparable Before I discuss the next interface in Figure 16.1, I need to discuss an interface that does not appear in the diagram but is nonetheless important to both IList and IDictionary. The IComparable interface is crucial for any sorting operation by classes implementing these interfaces. For example, if the List.Sort() method is called, you need a means to compare objects to determine their order. One way to do this is via the IComparable interface. This interface has one method, CompareTo(). It returns an integer indicating whether the element passed is greater than, less than, or equal to the current element. For this to work the key data type needs to implement IComparable.

ADVANCED TOPIC Using IComparer for Sorting Another way to handle custom sorting is to pass an element that implements IComparer into the sort method. This interface performs a function similar



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to IComparable, but is not generally supported directly by the element being collected. For example, consider providing an IComparable.CompareTo() method for Contact. What sort order would be used: age; last name; country of residence? At issue is the fact that the sort order varies, and therefore, providing one comparison method directly on the Contact class would be an arbitrary choice. A more appropriate solution is to provide a special sort class for each comparison implementation. Instead of the comparison method performing a comparison between the sort class instance and a single Contact instance, it would accept two Contact arguments and it would perform the comparison between these two instances. Listing 16.1 shows a sample implementation of a LastName, FirstName comparison. Listing 16.1: Implementing IComparer class Contact; { public string FirstName { get; set; } } public string LastName { get; set; } }

using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class NameComparison : IComparer { public int Compare(Contact x, Contact y) { int result; if (Contact.ReferenceEquals(x, y)) { result = 0; } else { if (x == null) { result = 1; } else if (y == null) { result = -1; }


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Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections else { result = StringCompare(x.LastName, y.LastName); if (result == 0) { result = StringCompare(x.FirstName, y.FirstName); } } } return result; } private static int StringCompare(string x, string y) { int result; if (x == null) { if (y == null) { result = 0; } else { result = 1; } } else { result = x.CompareTo(y); } return result; } }

To use the new Compare() function you pass it to a sort method such as List.Sort(IComparer comparer).

ICollection Both IList and IDictionary implement ICollection. A collection that does not implement either IList or IDictionary is more than likely going to implement ICollection (although not necessarily, since collections could implement the lesser requirement of IEnumerable or IEnumerable).


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ICollection is derived from IEnumerable and includes two

members: Count and CopyTo(). • The Count property returns the total number of elements in the collec-

tion. Initially, it may appear that this would be sufficient to iterate through each element in the collection using a for loop, but in order for this to be possible the collection would also need to support retrieval by index, which the ICollection interface does not include (although IList does include it). • The CopyTo() method provides the ability to convert the collection

into an array. The method includes an index parameter so that you can specify where to insert elements in the target array. Note that to use the method you must initialize the array target with sufficient capacity, starting at the index, to contain all the elements in ICollection.

Primary Collection Classes There are five key categories of collection classes, and they differ from each other in terms of how data is inserted, stored, and retrieved. Each generic class is located in the System.Collections.Generic namespace, and their nongeneric equivalents are in the System.Collections namespace.

List Collections: List The List class has properties similar to an array. The key difference is that these classes automatically expand as the number of elements increases. (In contrast, an array size is constant.) Furthermore, lists can shrink via explicit calls to TrimToSize() or Capacity (see Figure 16.2). These classes are categorized as list collections whose distinguishing functionality is that each element can be individually accessed by index, just like an array. Therefore, you can set and access elements in the list collection classes using the index operator, where the index parameter value corresponds to the position of an element in the collection. Listing 16.2 shows an example, and Output 16.1 shows the results.


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Figure 16.2: List Class Diagrams Listing 16.2: Using List using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static void Main() { List<string> list = new List<string>();



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// Lists automatically expand as elements // are added. list.Add("Sneezy"); list.Add("Happy"); list.Add("Dopey"); list.Add("Doc"); list.Add("Sleepy"); list.Add("Bashful"); list.Add("Grumpy"); list.Sort(); Console.WriteLine( "In alphabetical order {0} is the " + "first dwarf while {1} is the last.", list[0], list[6]); list.Remove("Grumpy"); } }

OUTPUT 16.1: In alphabetical order Bashful is the first dwarf while Sneezy is the last.

C# is zero-index-based; therefore, index zero in Listing 16.2 corresponds to the first element and index 6 indicates the seventh element. Retrieving elements by index does not involve a search. It involves a quick and simple “jump” operation to a location in memory. When you use the Add() method, elements maintain the order in which you added them. Therefore, prior to the call to Sort() in Listing 16.2, "Sneezy" is first and "Grumpy" is last. Although List supports a Sort() method, nothing states that all list collections require such a method. There is no support for automatic sorting of elements as they are added. In other words, an explicit call to Sort() is required for the elements to be sorted (items must implement IComparable). To remove an element, you use the Remove() method. To search List for a particular element, you use the Contains(), IndexOf(), LastIndexOf(), and BinarySearch() methods. The first three methods search through the array, starting at the first element (the last element for LastIndexOf()), and examine each element until the equivalent one is found. The execution time for these algorithms is proportional to the


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number of elements searched before a hit occurs. Be aware that the collection classes do not require that all the elements within the collection are unique. If two or more elements in the collection are the same, then IndexOf() returns the first index and LastIndexOf() returns the last index. BinarySearch() uses a binary search algorithm and requires that the elements be sorted. A useful feature of the BinarySearch() method is that if the element is not found, a negative integer is returned. The bitwise complement (~) of this value is the index of the next element larger than the element being sought, or the total element count if there is no greater value. This provides a convenient means to insert new values into the list at the specific location so as to maintain sorting (see Listing 16.3). Listing 16.3: Using the Bit Complement of the BinarySearch() Result using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static void Main() { List<string> list = new List<string>(); int search; list.Add("public"); list.Add("protected"); list.Add("private"); list.Sort(); search = list.BinarySearch("protected internal"); if (search < 0) { list.Insert(~search, "protected internal"); } foreach (string accessModifier in list) { Console.WriteLine(accessModifier); } } }

Beware that if the list is not first sorted, an element will not necessarily be found, even if it is in the list. The results of Listing 16.3 appear in Output 16.2.



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OUTPUT 16.2: private protected protected internal public

ADVANCED TOPIC Finding Multiple Items with FindAll() Sometimes you must find multiple items within a list and your search criteria are more complex than looking for specific values. To support this, System.Collections.Generic.List includes a FindAll() method. FindAll() takes a parameter of type Predicate, which is a reference to a method called a delegate. Listing 16.4 demonstrates how to use the FindAll() method. Listing 16.4: Demonstrating FindAll() and Its Predicate Parameter using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static void Main() { List list = new List(); list.Add(1); list.Add(2); list.Add(3); list.Add(2); List results = list.FindAll(Even); foreach(int number in results) { Console.WriteLine(number); } } public static bool Even(int value) { return (value % 2) == 0; } }

In Listing 16.4’s call to FindAll(), you pass a delegate instance, Even(). This method returns true when the integer argument value is even.


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Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections FindAll() takes the delegate instance and calls into Even() for each item

within the list (this listing uses C# 2.0’s delegate type inferencing). Each time the return is true, it adds it to a new List instance and then returns this instance once it has checked each item within list. A complete discussion of delegates occurs in Chapter 12.

Dictionary Collections: Dictionary Another category of collection classes is the dictionary classes—specifically, Dictionary (see Figure 16.3). Unlike the list collections, dictionary classes store name/value pairs. The name functions as a unique key that can be used to look up the corresponding element in a manner similar to that of using a primary key to access a record in a database. This adds some complexity to the access of dictionary elements, but because lookups by key are efficient operations, this is a useful collection. Note that the key may be any data type, not just a string or a numeric value.

Figure 16.3: Dictionary Class Diagrams



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One option for inserting elements into a dictionary is to use the Add() method, passing both the key and the value, as shown in Listing 16.5. Listing 16.5: Adding Items to a Dictionary using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static void Main() { Dictionary dictionary = new Dictionary(); Guid key = Guid.NewGuid(); dictionary.Add(key, "object"); } }

Listing 16.5 inserts the string "object" using a Guid as its key. If an element with the same key has already been added, an exception is thrown. An alternative is to use the indexer, as shown in Listing 16.6. Listing 16.6: Inserting Items in a Dictionary Using the Index Operator using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static void Main() { Dictionary dictionary = new Dictionary(); Guid key = Guid.NewGuid(); dictionary[key] = "object"; dictionary[key] = "byte"; } }

The first thing to observe in Listing 16.6 is that the index operator does not require an integer. Instead, the index data type is specified by the first type parameter, TKey, when declaring a Dictionary


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variable. In this example, the key data type used is Guid, and the value data type is string. The second thing to notice in Listing 16.6 is the reuse of the same index. In the first assignment, no dictionary element corresponds to key. Instead of throwing an out-of-bounds exception, as an array would, dictionary collection classes insert a new object. During the second assignment, an element with the specified key already exists, so instead of inserting an additional element, the existing element corresponding to key is updated from "object" to "byte". Accessing a value from a dictionary using the index operator ([]) with a nonexistent key throws an exception of type System.Collections.Generic. KeyNotFoundException. The ContainsKey() method, however, allows you to check whether a particular key is used before accessing its value, thereby avoiding the exception. Also, since the keys are stored in a hash table, the search is relatively efficient. By contrast, checking whether there is a particular value in the dictionary collections is a time-consuming operation with linear performance characteristics. To do this you use the ContainsValue() method, which searches sequentially through each element in the collection. You remove a dictionary element using the Remove() method, passing the key, not the element value. There is no particular order for the dictionary classes. Elements are arranged into a hash table using hash codes for rapid retrieval (acquired by calling GetHashCode() on the key). Iterating through a dictionary class using the foreach loop, therefore, accesses values in no particular order. Because both the key and the element value are required to add an element to the dictionary, the data type returned from the foreach loop is KeyValuePair for Dictionary. Listing 16.7 shows a snippet of code demonstrating the foreach loop with the Dictionary collection class. The output appears in Output 16.3. Listing 16.7: Iterating over Dictionary with foreach using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static void Main()



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{ Dictionary<string,string> dictionary = new Dictionary<string,string>(); int index =0; dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), dictionary.Add(index++.ToString(),

"object"); "byte"); "uint"); "ulong"); "float"); "char"); "bool"); "ushort"); "decimal"); "int"); "sbyte"); "short"); "long"); "void"); "double"); "string");

Console.WriteLine("Key Value Hashcode"); Console.WriteLine("--- ------- --------"); foreach (KeyValuePair<string, string> i in dictionary) { Console.WriteLine("{0,-5}{1,-9}{2}", i.Key, i.Value, i.Key.GetHashCode()); } } }

OUTPUT 16.3: Key --0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Value ------object byte uint ulong float char bool ushort decimal int sbyte short long void double string

Hashcode ----------842352752 -842352753 -842352754 -842352755 -842352756 -842352757 -842352758 -842352759 -842352744 -842352745 -843401329 -843466865 -843532401 -843597937 -843663473 -843729009


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If you want to deal only with keys or only with elements within a dictionary class, they are available via the Keys and Values properties. The data type returned from these properties is of type ICollection. The data returned by these properties is a reference to the data within the original dictionary collection, so changes within the dictionary are automatically reflected in the ICollection type returned by the Keys and Values properties.

Sorted Collections: SortedDictionary and SortedList The sorted collection classes (see Figure 16.4) differ from unsorted implementation collections in that the elements are sorted by key for SortedDictionary and by value for SortedList. (There is also a nongeneric SortedList implementation.) A foreach iteration of sorted collections returns the elements sorted in key order (see Listing 16.8). Listing 16.8: Using SortedDictionary using System; using System.Collections.Generic; class Program { static void Main() { SortedDictionary<string,string> sortedDictionary = new SortedDictionary<string,string>(); int index =0; sortedDictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), "object"); // ... sortedDictionary.Add(index++.ToString(), "string"); Console.WriteLine("Key Value Hashcode"); Console.WriteLine--- ------- ----------"); foreach ( KeyValuePair<string, string> i in sortedDictionary) { Console.WriteLine("{0,-5}{1,-9}{2}", i.Key, i.Value, i.Key.GetHashCode()); } } }

The results of Listing 16.8 appear in Output 16.4.



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OUTPUT 16.4: Key --0 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Value ------object byte sbyte short long void double string uint ulong float char bool ushort decimal int

Hashcode ----------842352752 -842352753 -843401329 -843466865 -843532401 -843597937 -843663473 -843729009 -842352754 -842352755 -842352756 -842352757 -842352758 -842352759 -842352744 -842352745

Figure 16.4: SortedList and SortedDictionary Class Diagrams


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Note that the elements in the key (not the value) are in alphabetical rather than numerical order, because the data type of the key is a string, not an integer. When inserting or removing elements from a sorted dictionary collection, maintenance of order within the collection slightly increases execution time when compared to the straight dictionary classes described earlier. Behaviorally, there are two internal arrays, one for key retrieval and one for index retrieval. On a System.Collections.Sorted sorted list, indexing is supported via the GetByIndex() and SetByIndex() methods. With System.Collections.Generic.SortedList, the Keys and Values properties return IList and IList instances, respectively. These methods enable the sorted list to behave both as a dictionary and as a list type collection.

Stack Collections: Stack Chapter 11 discussed the stack collection classes (see Figure 16.5). The stack collection classes are designed as last in, first out (LIFO) collections. The two key methods are Push() and Pop(). • Push() places elements into the collection. The elements do not have

to be unique. • Pop() retrieves and removes elements in the reverse order of how

they were added. To access the elements on the stack without modifying the stack, you use the Peek() and Contains() methods. The Peek() method returns the next element that Pop() will retrieve. As with most collection classes, you use the Contains() method to determine whether an element exists anywhere in the stack. As with all collections, it is also possible to use a foreach loop to iterate over the elements in a stack. This allows you to access values from anywhere in the stack. Note, however, that accessing a value via the foreach loop does not remove it from the stack. Only Pop() provides this functionality.



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Queue Collections: Queue Queue collection classes, shown in Figure 16.6, are identical to stack collection classes, except they follow the ordering pattern of first in, first out (FIFO). In place of the Pop() and Push() methods are the Enqueue() and Dequeue() methods. The queue collection behaves like a circular array or pipe. You place objects into the queue at one end using the Enqueue() method, and you remove them from the other end using the Dequeue() method. As with stack collection classes, the objects do not have to be unique, and queue collection classes automatically increase in size as required. When data is no longer needed, you recover the capacity using the TrimToSize() method. Linked Lists: LinkedList In addition, System.Collections.Generic supports a linked list collection that enables both forward and reverse traversal. Figure 16.7 shows the class diagram. Notice there is no corresponding nongeneric type.

Figure 16.5: Stack Class Diagram

Figure 16.6: Queue Class Diagram


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Figure 16.7: LinkedList and LinkedListNode Class Diagrams

Providing an Index Operator The common collection interfaces provide much of the foundation for what members are needed when implementing custom collections. However, there is one more member: the index operator. The index operator is a pair of square brackets that are generally used to index into a collection. Not only is this available on each collection type, but it is also a member that programmers can add to their custom classes. Listing 16.9 shows an example using Pair. Listing 16.9: Defining an Index Operator interface IPair { T First { get; }



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T Second { get; } T this[PairItem index] { get; } }

public enum PairItem { First, Second }

public struct Pair : IPair { public Pair(T first, T second) { _first = first; _second = second; } public T First { get{ return _first; } private set{ _first = value; } } private T _first; public T Second { get{ return _second; } private set{ _second = value; } } private T _second; public T this[PairItem index] { get { switch (index) { case PairItem.First: return First; case PairItem.Second: return Second; default : throw new NotImplementedException( string.Format(


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Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections "The enum {0} has not been implemented", index.ToString())); } } set { switch (index) { case PairItem.First: First = value; break; case PairItem.Second: Second = value; break; default: throw new NotImplementedException( string.Format( "The enum {0} has not been implemented", index.ToString())); } } } }

To define an index operator, you must name the member this and follow it with square brackets that identify the parameters. The implementation is like a property with get and set blocks. As Listing 16.9 shows, the parameter does not have to be an int, and in fact, the index can take multiple parameters and can even be overloaded. This example uses an enum to reduce the likelihood that callers will supply an index for a nonexistent item. The resultant CIL code the C# compiler creates from an index operator is a special property called Item that takes an argument. Properties that accept arguments cannot be created explicitly in C#, so the Item property is unique in this aspect. This is because any additional member with the identifier Item, even if it has an entirely different signature, will conflict with the compiler-created member, and will therefore not be allowed.

ADVANCED TOPIC Assigning the Indexer Property Name Using IndexerName As indicated earlier, the CIL property name for an indexer defaults to Item. Using the IndexerNameAttribute you can specify a different name, however. Listing 16.10, for example, changes the name to "Entry".



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Listing 16.10: Changing the Indexer’s Default Name [System.Runtime.CompilerServices.IndexerName("Entry")] public T this[params PairItem[] branches] { // ... }

This makes no difference to C# callers of the index, but it specifies the name for languages that do not support indexers directly. Compilers consume this attribute and modify the generated CIL code. The attribute itself does not appear in the CIL output, and therefore, it is not available via reflection.

ADVANCED TOPIC Defining an Index Operator with Variable Parameters An index operator can also take a variable parameter list. For example, Listing 16.11 defines an index operator for BinaryTree discussed in Chapter 11 (and again in the next section). Listing 16.11: Defining an Index Operator with Variable Parameters using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class BinaryTree: IEnumerable { // ... public T this[params PairItem[] branches] { get { BinaryTree currentNode = this; int totalLevels = (branches == null) ? 0 : branches.Length; int currentLevel = 0; while (currentLevel < totalLevels) { currentNode = currentNode.SubItems[ branches[currentLevel]]; if (currentNode == null)


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Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections { // The binary tree at this location is null. throw new IndexOutOfRangeException(); } currentLevel++; } return currentNode.Value; } set { // ... } } }

Each item within branches is a PairItem and indicates which branch to navigate down in the binary tree.

Returning Null or an Empty Collection When returning an array or collection, you must indicate that there are zero items by returning either null or a collection instance with no items. The better choice in general is to return a collection instance with no items. In so doing, you avoid forcing the caller to check for null before iterating over the items in the collection. For example, given a zero-size IEnumerable collection, the caller can immediately and safely use a foreach loop over the collection without concern that the generated call to GetEnumerator() will throw a NullReferenceException. One of the few times to deviate from this guideline is when null is intentionally indicating something different from zero items. A null value for a phone number on a string, for example, may indicate that the phone number is not set, and an empty string could indicate explicitly that there is no phone number.

Iterators Earlier, this chapter went into detail on the internals of the foreach loop. This section discusses how to use iterators to create your own implementation of


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the IEnumerator and nongeneric IEnumerator interfaces for custom collections. Iterators provide clean syntax for specifying how to iterate on data in collection classes, especially using the foreach loop. The iterator allows endusers of a collection to navigate its internal structure without knowledge of that structure.

ADVANCED TOPIC Origin of Iterators In 1972, Barbara Liskov and a team of scientists at MIT began researching programming methodologies, focusing on user-defined data abstractions. To prove much of their work, they created a language called CLU that had a concept called “clusters” (CLU being the first three letters), a predecessor to the primary data abstraction programmers use today, objects. As part of their research, the team realized that although they were able to use the CLU language to abstract some data representation away from end-users of their types, they consistently found themselves having to reveal the inner structure of their data in order to allow others to intelligently consume it. Through their consternation came the creation of a language construct called an iterator. (The CLU language offered many insights into what would eventually be popularized as object-oriented programming.) If classes want to support iteration using the foreach loop construct, they must implement the enumerator pattern. As you saw in the earlier section, in C# the foreach loop construct is expanded by the compiler into the while loop construct based on the IEnumerator interface that is retrieved from the IEnumerable interface. The problem with the enumeration pattern is that it can be cumbersome to implement manually, because it maintains an internal state machine. This internal state machine may be simple for a list collection type class, but for data structures that require recursive traversal, such as binary trees, the state machine can be quite complicated. To overcome the challenges and effort associated with implementing this pattern, C# 2.0 included a construct that makes it easier for a class to dictate how the foreach loop iterates over its contents.


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Defining an Iterator Iterators are a means to implement methods of a class, and they are syntactic shortcuts for the more complex enumerator pattern. When the C# compiler encounters an iterator, it expands its contents into CIL code that implements the enumerator pattern. As such, there are no runtime dependencies for implementing iterators. Because the C# compiler handles implementation through CIL code generation, there is no real runtime performance benefit to using iterators. However, there is a substantial programmer productivity gain in choosing iterators over manual implementation of the enumerator pattern. To begin, the next section examines how an iterator is defined in code. Iterator Syntax An iterator provides shorthand implementation of iterator interfaces, the combination of the IEnumerable and IEnumerator interfaces. Listing 16.12 declares an iterator for the generic BinaryTree type by creating a GetEnumerator() method. Next, you will add support for the iterator interfaces. Listing 16.12: Iterator Interfaces Pattern using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class BinaryTree: IEnumerable { public BinaryTree ( T value) { Value = value; } #region IEnumerable public IEnumerator GetEnumerator() { ... } #endregion IEnumerable public T Value { get{ return _value; set{ _value = value;

} }


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} private T _value; public Pair SubItems { get{ return _subItems; } set{ _subItems = value; } } private Pair _subItems; } public struct Pair { public Pair(T first, T second) { _first = first; _second = second; } public T First { get{ return _first; } private set{ _first = value; } } private T _first; public T Second { get{ return _second; } private set{ _second = value; } } private T _second; }

To begin, add the declaration for the IEnumerator IEnumerable .GetEnumerator() method.

Yielding Values from an Iterator Iterators are like functions, but instead of returning values, they yield them. In the case of BinaryTree, the yield type of the iterator corresponds to the type parameter, T. If the nongeneric version of IEnumerator is used, then the return type will instead be object. To correctly implement the iterator pattern, you need to maintain an internal state machine in order to keep track of where you are while enumerating the collection. In the BinaryTree case, you track which elements within the tree have already been enumerated and which are still to come.


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Iterators have built-in state machines to keep track of the current and next elements. The yield return statement returns values each time an iterator encounters it. Then, when the next iteration starts, the code begins to execute immediately following the last yield return statement. In Listing 16.13, you return the C# primitive data type keywords sequentially. Listing 16.13: Yielding the C# Keywords Sequentially using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public class CSharpPrimitiveTypes: IEnumerable<string> { public IEnumerator<string> GetEnumerator() { yield return "object"; yield return "byte"; yield return "uint"; yield return "ulong"; yield return "float"; yield return "char"; yield return "bool"; yield return "ushort"; yield return "decimal"; yield return "int"; yield return "sbyte"; yield return "short"; yield return "long"; yield return "void"; yield return "double"; yield return "string"; } // IEnumerator also required because IEnumerator // derives from it. System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator() { // Invoke IEnumerator<string> GetEnumerator() above return GetEnumerator(); } } public class Program { static void Main() {


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CSharpPrimitiveTypes primitives = new CSharpPrimitiveTypes(); foreach (string primitive in primitives) { Console.WriteLine(primitive); } } }

The results of Listing 16.13 appear in Output 16.5. OUTPUT 16.5: object byte uint ulong float char bool ushort decimal int sbyte short long void double string

The output from this listing is a listing of the C# primitive types.1

Iterators and State When an iterator is first called in a foreach statement (such as foreach (string primitive in primitives) in Listing 16.13), its state is initialized within the enumerator. The iterator maintains its state as long as the foreach statement at the call site continues to execute. When you yield a value, process it, and resume the foreach statement at the call site, the iterator continues where it left off the previous time around the loop and 1. In alpha versions of the C# 2.0 compiler, yield was a keyword rather than a contextual keyword. However, such a change could result in an incompatibility between C# 1.0 and C# 2.0. Instead, yield became a contextual keyword that must appear before return. As a result, no code-breaking change occurred because C# 1.0 did not allow any text (besides comments) prior to the return keyword.


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continues processing. When the foreach statement at the call site terminates, the iterator’s state is no longer saved. It is always safe to call the iterator again since the generated code never resets the state of the iterator but instead creates a new one when needed. Figure 16.8 shows a high-level sequence diagram of what takes place. Remember that the MoveNext() method appears on the IEnumerator interface.

Program

primitives: CSharpPrimitiveTypes

enumerator: Enumerator

Console

GetEnumerator() Instantiate

MoveNext() yield return "object" WriteLine()

MoveNext() yield return "byte" WriteLine()

... MoveNext() yield return "string" WriteLine()

Figure 16.8: Sequence Diagram with yield return


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In Listing 16.13, the foreach statement at the call site initiates a call to GetEnumerator() on the CSharpPrimitiveTypes instance called primitives. Given the iterator instance (referenced by iterator), foreach begins each iteration with a call to MoveNext(). Within the iterator, you yield a value back to the foreach statement at the call site. After the yield return statement, the GetEnumerator() method seemingly pauses until the next MoveNext() request. Back at the call site, the foreach statement displays the yielded value on the screen. It then loops back around and calls MoveNext() on the iterator again. Notice that the second time, processing picks up at the second yield return statement. Once again, the foreach displays on the screen what CSharpPrimitiveTypes yielded and starts the loop again. This process continues until there are no more yield return statements within the iterator. At that point, the foreach loop at the call site terminates.

More Iterator Examples Before you modify BinaryTree, you must modify Pair to support the IEnumerable interface using an iterator. Listing 16.14 is an example that yields each element in Pair. Listing 16.14: Using yield to Implement BinaryTree public struct Pair: IPair, IEnumerable { public Pair(T first, T second) { _first = first; _second = second; } public T First { get{ return _first; } private set{ _first = value; } } private T _first; public T Second { get{ return _second; } private set{ _second = value; } }


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Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections private T _second; #region IEnumerable public IEnumerator GetEnumerator() { yield return First; yield return Second; } #endregion IEnumerable #region IEnumerable Members System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator { return GetEnumerator(); } #endregion }

In Listing 16.14, the iteration over the Pair data type loops twice: first through yield return First, and then through yield return Second. Each time the yield return statement within GetEnumerator() is encountered, the state is saved and execution appears to “jump” out of the GetEnumerator() method context and into the context of the call site. When the second iteration starts, GetEnumerator() begins to execute again with the yield return Second statement. System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable inherits from System. Collections.IEnumerable. Therefore, when implementing IEnumerable, it is also necessary to implement IEnumerable. In Listing 16.14, you do so explicitly, and the implementation simply involves a call to IEnumerable’s GetEnumerator() implementation. This call from IEnumerable. GetEnumerator() to IEnumerable.GetEnumerator() will always work because of the type compatibility (via inheritance) between IEnumerable and IEnumerable. Since the signatures for both GetEnumerator()s are identical (the return type does not distinguish a signature), one or both implementations must be explicit. Given the additional type safety offered by IEnumerable’s version, you implement IEnumerable’s implementation explicitly. Listing 16.15 uses the Pair.GetEnumerator() method and displays "Inigo" and "Montoya" on two consecutive lines.


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Listing 16.15: Using Pair.GetEnumerator() via foreach Pair<string> fullname = new Pair<string>("Inigo", "Montoya"); foreach (string name in fullname) { Console.WriteLine(name); }

Notice that the call to GetEnumerator() is implicit within the foreach loop.

Placing a yield return within a Loop It is not necessary to hardcode each yield return statement, as you did in both CSharpPrimitiveTypes and Pair. Using the yield return statement, you can return values from inside a loop construct. Listing 16.16 uses a foreach loop. Each time the foreach within GetEnumerator() executes, it returns the next value. Listing 16.16: Placing yield return Statements within a Loop public class BinaryTree: IEnumerable { // ... #region IEnumerable public IEnumerator GetEnumerator() { // Return the item at this node. yield return Value; // Iterate through each of the elements in the pair. foreach (BinaryTree tree in SubItems) { if (tree != null) { // Since each element in the pair is a tree, // traverse the tree and yield each // element. foreach (T item in tree) { yield return item; } } } } #endregion IEnumerable


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Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections #region IEnumerable Members System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator() { return GetEnumerator(); } #endregion }

In Listing 16.16, the first iteration returns the root element within the binary tree. During the second iteration you traverse the pair of subelements. If the subelement pair contains a non-null value, then you traverse into that child node and yield its elements. Note that foreach(T item in tree) is a recursive call to a child node. As observed with CSharpPrimitiveTypes and Pair, you can now iterate over BinaryTree using a foreach loop. Listing 16.17 demonstrates this, and Output 16.6 shows the results. Listing 16.17: Using foreach with BinaryTree<string> // JFK jfkFamilyTree = new BinaryTree<string>( "John Fitzgerald Kennedy"); jfkFamilyTree.SubItems = new Pair>( new BinaryTree<string>("Joseph Patrick Kennedy"), new BinaryTree<string>("Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald")); // Grandparents (Father's side) jfkFamilyTree.SubItems.First.SubItems = new Pair>( new BinaryTree<string>("Patrick Joseph Kennedy"), new BinaryTree<string>("Mary Augusta Hickey")); // Grandparents (Mother's side) jfkFamilyTree.SubItems.Second.SubItems = new Pair>( new BinaryTree<string>("John Francis Fitzgerald"), new BinaryTree<string>("Mary Josephine Hannon")); foreach (string name in jfkFamilyTree) { Console.WriteLine(name); }


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OUTPUT 16.6: John Fitzgerald Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy Patrick Joseph Kennedy Mary Augusta Hickey Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald John Francis Fitzgerald Mary Josephine Hannon

BEGINNER TOPIC struct versus class An interesting side effect of defining Pair as a struct rather than a class is that SubItems.First and SubItems.Second cannot be assigned directly. The following will produce a compile error indicating that SubItems cannot be modified, “because it is not a variable”: jfkFamilyTree.SubItems.First = new BinaryTree<string>("Joseph Patrick Kennedy");

The issue is that SubItems is a property of type Pair, a struct. Therefore, when the property returns the value, a copy of _SubItems is made, and assigning First on a copy that is promptly lost at the end of the statement would be misleading. Fortunately, the C# compiler prevents this. To overcome the issue, don’t assign it (see the approach in Listing 16.17), use class rather than struct for Pair, don’t create a SubItems property and instead use a field, or provide properties in BinaryTree that give direct access to _SubItems members.

Canceling Further Iteration: yield break Sometimes you might want to cancel further iteration. You can do this by including an if statement so that no further statements within the code are executed. However, you can also jump back to the call site, causing MoveNext() to return false. Listing 16.18 shows an example of such a method.


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Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections Listing 16.18: Escaping Iteration via yield break public System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable GetNotNullEnumerator() { if((First == null) || (Second == null)) { yield break; } yield return Second; yield return First; }

This method cancels the iteration if either of the elements in the Pair class is null. A yield break statement is similar to placing a return statement at the top of a function when it is determined that there is no work to do. It is a way to exit from further iterations without surrounding all remaining code with an if block. As such, it allows multiple exits, and therefore, you should use it with caution because casual reading of the code may miss the early exit.

ADVANCED TOPIC How Iterators Work When the C# compiler encounters an iterator, it expands the code into the appropriate CIL for the corresponding enumerator design pattern. In the generated code, the C# compiler first creates a nested private class to implement the IEnumerator interface, along with its Current property and a MoveNext() method. The Current property returns a type corresponding to the return type of the iterator. Listing 16.14 of Pair contains an iterator that returns a T type. The C# compiler examines the code contained within the iterator and creates the necessary code within the MoveNext method and the Current property to mimic its behavior. For the Pair iterator, the C# compiler generates roughly equivalent code (see Listing 16.19). Listing 16.19: C# Equivalent of Compiler-Generated C# Code for Iterators using System; using System.Collections.Generic;


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public class Pair : IPair, IEnumerable { // ... // The iterator is expanded into the following // code by the compiler public virtual IEnumerator GetEnumerator() { __ListEnumerator result = new __ListEnumerator(0); result._Pair = this; return result; } public virtual System.Collections.IEnumerator System.Collections.IEnumerable.GetEnumerator() { return new GetEnumerator(); } private sealed class __ListEnumerator : IEnumerator { public __ListEnumerator(int itemCount) { _ItemCount = itemCount; } Pair _Pair; T _Current; int _ItemCount; public object Current { get { return _Current; } } public bool MoveNext() { switch (_ItemCount) { case 0: _Current = _Pair.First; _ItemCount++; return true; case 1: _Current = _Pair.Second; _ItemCount++;


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Chapter 16: Building Custom Collections return true; default: return false; } } } }

Because the compiler takes the yield return statement and generates classes that correspond to what you probably would have written manually, iterators in C# exhibit the same performance characteristics as classes that implement the enumerator design pattern manually. Although there is no performance improvement, the programmer productivity gained is significant.

Creating Multiple Iterators in a Single Class Previous iterator examples implemented IEnumerable.GetEnumerator(). This is the method that foreach seeks implicitly. Sometimes you might want different iteration sequences, such as iterating in reverse, filtering the results, or iterating over an object projection other than the default. You can declare additional iterators in the class by encapsulating them within properties or methods that return IEnumerable or IEnumerable. If you want to iterate over the elements of Pair in reverse, for example, you provide a GetReverseEnumerator() method, as shown in Listing 16.20. Listing 16.20: Using yield return in a Method That Returns IEnumerable public struct Pair: IEnumerable { ... public IEnumerable GetReverseEnumerator() { yield return Second; yield return First; } ... } public void Main() { Pair<string> game = new Pair<string>("Redskins", "Eagles");


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foreach (string name in game.GetReverseEnumerator()) { Console.WriteLine(name); } }

Note that you return IEnumerable, not IEnumerator. This is different from IEnumerable.GetEnumerator(), which returns IEnumerator. The code in Main() demonstrates how to call GetReverseEnumerator() using a foreach loop.

yield Statement Characteristics You can declare the yield return statement only in members that return an IEnumerator or IEnumerable type, or their nongeneric equivalents. More specifically, you can use yield only in GetEnumerator() methods that return IEnumerator, or in methods that return IEnumerable but are not called GetEnumerator(). Methods that include a yield return statement may not have a simple return. If the method uses the yield return statement, then the C# compiler generates the necessary code to maintain the state machine for the iterator. In contrast, if the method uses the return statement instead of yield return, the programmer is responsible for maintaining his own state machine and returning an instance of one of the iterator interfaces. Further, just as all code paths in a method with a return type must contain a return statement accompanied by a value (assuming they don’t throw an exception), all code paths in an iterator must contain a yield return statement if they are to return any data. Additional restrictions on the yield statement that result in compiler errors are as follows. • The yield statement may not appear outside a method, operator, or

property accessor. • The yield statement may not appear in an anonymous method (see

Chapter 12). • The yield statement may not appear inside the catch and finally

clauses of the try statement. Furthermore, a yield statement may appear in a try block only if there is no catch block.


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SUMMARY The generic collection classes and interfaces made available in C# 2.0 are universally superior to their nongeneric counterparts; by avoiding boxing penalties and enforcing type rules at compile time, they are faster and safer. Unless you are limited to C# 1.0, you should consider the entire namespace of System.Collections as obsolete (in fact, it has been excluded from the Silverlight CLR entirely). In other words, don’t go back and necessarily remove all code that already uses this namespace. Instead, use System.Collections.Generics for any new code and, over time, consider migrating existing code to use the corresponding generic collections which contain both the interfaces and the classes for working with collections of objects. Providing the System.Collections.Generic namespace is not the only change that C# 2.0 brought to collections. Another significant addition is the iterator. Iterators involve a new contextual keyword, yield, that C# uses to generate underlying CIL code that implements the iterator pattern used by the foreach loop.


17 Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming

of inserting additional metadata into an assembly and associating the metadata with a programming construct such as a class, method, or property. This chapter investigates the details surrounding attributes that are built into the framework, as well as how to define custom attributes. In order to take advantage of custom attributes, it is necessary to identify them. This is handled through reflection. This chapter begins with a look at reflection, including how you can use it to dynamically bind at runtime and call a member using its name at compile time. This is frequently performed within tools such as a code generator. In addition, reflection is used at execution time when the call target is unknown.

A

TTRIBUTES ARE A MEANS

8 Dynamic Programming AttributeUsageAttribute ConditionalAttribute ObsoleteAttribute Serialization

Accessing

1 Metadata

GetType() typeof()

Predefined

7 Attributes

6 Named Parameters

2 Member Invocation Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming

5 Attribute Constructors

3 Reflection on Generics

4 Custom Attributes

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The chapter ends with a discussion of dynamic programming, a feature added in C# 4.0 that greatly simplifies working with data that is dynamic and requires execution-time rather than compile-time binding.

Reflection Using reflection, it is possible to do the following: • Access the metadata for types within an assembly. This includes con-

structs such as the full type name, member names, and any attributes decorating the construct. • Dynamically invoke a type’s member at runtime using the metadata,

rather than a compile-time-defined binding. Reflection is the process of examining the metadata within an assembly. Traditionally, when code compiles down to a machine language, all the metadata (such as type and method names) about the code is discarded. In contrast, when C# compiles into the CIL, it maintains most of the metadata about the code. Furthermore, using reflection, it is possible to enumerate through all the types within an assembly and search for those that match certain criteria. You access a type’s metadata through instances of System.Type, and this object includes methods for enumerating the type instance’s members. Furthermore, it is possible to invoke those members on particular objects that are of the examined type. The facility for reflection enables a host of new paradigms that otherwise are unavailable. For example, reflection enables you to enumerate over all the types within an assembly, along with their members, and in the process create stubs for documentation of the assembly API. You can then combine the metadata retrieved from reflection with the XML document created from XML comments (using the/doc switch) to create the API documentation. Similarly, programmers use reflection metadata to generate code for persisting (serializing) business objects into a database. It could also be used in a list control that displays a collection of objects. Given the collection, a list control could use reflection to iterate over all the properties of an object in the collection, defining a column within the list for each


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property. Furthermore, by invoking each property on each object, the list control could populate each row and column with the data contained in the object, even though the data type of the object is unknown at compile time. XmlSerializer, ValueType, and DataBinder are a few of the classes in the framework that use reflection for portions of their implementation as well.

Accessing Metadata Using System.Type The key to reading a type’s metadata is to obtain an instance of System.Type that represents the target type instance. System.Type provides all the methods for retrieving the information about a type. You can use it to answer questions such as the following. • What is the type’s name (Type.Name)? • Is the type public (Type.IsPublic)? • What is the type’s base type (Type.BaseType)? • Does the type support any interfaces (Type.GetInterfaces())? • Which assembly is the type defined in (Type.Assembly)? • What are a type’s properties, methods, fields, and so on (Type.GetProperties(), Type.GetMethods(), Type.GetFields(), and so on)? • What attributes decorate a type (Type.GetCustomAttributes())?

There are more such members, but in summary, they all provide information about a particular type. The key is to obtain a reference to a type’s Type object, and the two primary ways to do this are through object. GetType() and typeof(). Note that the GetMethods() call does not return extension methods. They are available only as static members on the implementing type. GetType() object includes a GetType() member, and therefore, all types include this

function. You call GetType() to retrieve an instance of System.Type corresponding to the original object. Listing 17.1 demonstrates this, using a Type instance from DateTime. Output 17.1 shows the results.


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Chapter 17: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming Listing 17.1: Using Type.GetProperties() to Obtain an Object’s Public Properties DateTime dateTime = new DateTime(); Type type = dateTime.GetType(); foreach ( System.Reflection.PropertyInfo property in type.GetProperties()) { Console.WriteLine(property.Name); }

OUTPUT 17.1: Date Day DayOfWeek DayOfYear Hour Kind Millisecond Minute Month Now UtcNow Second Ticks TimeOfDay Today Year

After calling GetType(), you iterate over each System.Reflection. PropertyInfo instance returned from Type.GetProperties() and display the property names. The key to calling GetType() is that you must have an object instance. However, sometimes no such instance is available. Static classes, for example, cannot be instantiated, so there is no way to call GetType(). typeof()

Another way to retrieve a Type object is with the typeof expression. typeof binds at compile time to a particular Type instance, and it takes a type directly as a parameter. Listing 17.2 demonstrates the use of typeof with Enum.Parse().


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Listing 17.2: Using typeof() to Create a System.Type Instance using System.Diagnostics; // ... ThreadPriorityLevel priority; priority = (ThreadPriorityLevel)Enum.Parse( typeof(ThreadPriorityLevel), "Idle"); // ...

Enum.Parse() takes a Type object identifying an enum and then converts

a string to the specific enum value. In this case, it converts "Idle" to System.Diagnostics.ThreadPriorityLevel.Idle.

Member Invocation The possibilities with reflection don’t stop with retrieving the metadata. The next step is to take the metadata and dynamically invoke the members it references. Consider the possibility of defining a class to represent an application’s command line. The difficulty with a CommandLineInfo class such as this has to do with populating the class with the actual commandline data that started the application. However, using reflection, you can map the command-line options to property names and then dynamically set the properties at runtime. Listing 17.3 demonstrates this example. Listing 17.3: Dynamically Invoking a Member using System; using System.Diagnostics; public partial class Program { public static void Main(string[] args) { string errorMessage; CommandLineInfo commandLine = new CommandLineInfo(); if (!CommandLineHandler.TryParse( args, commandLine, out errorMessage)) { Console.WriteLine(errorMessage); DisplayHelp(); } if (commandLine.Help) {


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Chapter 17: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming DisplayHelp(); } else { if (commandLine.Priority != ProcessPriorityClass.Normal) { // Change thread priority } } // ... } private static void DisplayHelp() { // Display the command-line help. } }

using System; using System.Diagnostics; public partial class Program { private class CommandLineInfo { public bool Help { get; set; } public string Out { get; set; } public ProcessPriorityClass Priority { get { return _Priority; } set { _Priority = value; } } private ProcessPriorityClass _Priority = ProcessPriorityClass.Normal; } }

using System; using System.Diagnostics; using System.Reflection; public class CommandLineHandler {


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public static void Parse(string[] args, object commandLine) { string errorMessage; if (!TryParse(args, commandLine, out errorMessage)) { throw new ApplicationException(errorMessage); } } public static bool TryParse(string[] args, object commandLine, out string errorMessage) { bool success = false; errorMessage = null; foreach (string arg in args) { string option; if (arg[0] == '/' || arg[0] == '-') { string[] optionParts = arg.Split( new char[] { ':' }, 2); // Remove the slash|dash option = optionParts[0].Remove(0, 1); PropertyInfo property = commandLine.GetType().GetProperty(option, BindingFlags.IgnoreCase | BindingFlags.Instance | BindingFlags.Public); if (property != null) { if (property.PropertyType == typeof(bool)) { // Last parameters for handling indexers property.SetValue( commandLine, true, null); success = true; } else if ( property.PropertyType == typeof(string)) { property.SetValue( commandLine, optionParts[1], null); success = true; } else if (property.PropertyType.IsEnum) { try { property.SetValue(commandLine, Enum.Parse(


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Chapter 17: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming typeof(ProcessPriorityClass), optionParts[1], true), null); success = true; } catch (ArgumentException ) { success = false; errorMessage = string.Format( "The option '{0}' is " + "invalid for '{1}'", optionParts[1], option); } } else { success = false; errorMessage = string.Format( "Data type '{0}' on {1} is not" + " supported.", property.PropertyType.ToString(), commandLine.GetType().ToString()); } } else { success = false; errorMessage = string.Format( "Option '{0}' is not supported.", option); } } } return success; } }

Although Listing 17.3 is long, the code is relatively simple. Main() begins by instantiating a CommandLineInfo class. This type is defined specifically to contain the command-line data for this program. Each property corresponds to a command-line option for the program where the command line is as shown in Output 17.2. OUTPUT 17.2: Compress.exe /Out: /Help /Priority:RealTime|High|AboveNormal|Normal|BelowNormal|Idle


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The CommandLineInfo object is passed to the CommandLineHandler’s TryParse() method. This method begins by enumerating through each option and separating out the option name ( Help or Out, for example). Once the name is determined, the code reflects on the CommandLineInfo object, looking for an instance property with the same name. If the property is found, it assigns the property using a call to SetValue() and specifies the data corresponding to the property type. (For arguments, this call accepts the object on which to set the value, the new value, and an additional index parameter that is null unless the property is an indexer.) This listing handles three property types: Boolean, string, and enum. In the case of enums, you parse the option value and assign the property the text’s enum equivalent. Assuming the TryParse() call was successful, the method exits and the CommandLineInfo object is initialized with the data from the command line. Interestingly, in spite of the fact that CommandLineInfo is a private class nested within Program, CommandLineHandler has no trouble reflecting over it and even invoking its members. In other words, reflection is able to circumvent accessibility rules as long as appropriate code access security (CAS; see chapter 21) permissions are established. If, for example, Out was private, it would still be possible for the TryParse() method to assign it a value. Because of this, it would be possible to move CommandLineHandler into a separate assembly and share it across multiple programs, each with their own CommandLineInfo class. In this particular example, you invoke a member on CommandLineInfo using PropertyInfo.SetValue(). Not surprisingly, PropertyInfo also includes a GetValue() method for retrieving data from the property. For a method, however, there is a MethodInfo class with an Invoke() member. Both MethodInfo and PropertyInfo derive from MemberInfo (although indirectly), as shown in Figure 17.1. The CAS permissions are set up to allow private member invocation in this case because the program runs from the local computer, and by default, locally installed programs are part of the trusted zone and have appropriate permissions granted. Programs run from a remote location will need to be explicitly granted such a right.


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Figure 17.1: MemberInfo Derived Classes

Reflection on Generic Types Just as you can use reflection on nongeneric types, the 2.0 framework included provisions for reflecting on generic types. Runtime reflection on generics determines whether a class or method contains a generic type, and any type parameters or arguments it may include. Determining the Type of Type Parameters

In the same way that you can use a typeof operator with nongeneric types to retrieve an instance of System.Type, you can use the typeof operator on type parameters in a generic type or generic method. Listing 17.4 applies the typeof operator to the type parameter in the Add method of a Stack class.


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Listing 17.4: Declaring the Stack Class public class Stack { ... public void Add(T i) { ... Type t = typeof(T); ... } ... }

Once you have an instance of the Type object for the type parameter, you may then use reflection on the type parameter itself to determine its behavior and tailor the Add method to the specific type more effectively. Determining Whether a Class or Method Supports Generics

In the System.Type class for CLI 2.0, a handful of methods were added to determine whether a given type supports generic parameters and arguments. A generic argument is a type parameter supplied when a generic class is instantiated. You can determine whether a class or method contains generic parameters that have not yet been set by querying the Type.ContainsGenericParameters Boolean property, as demonstrated in Listing 17.5. Listing 17.5: Reflection with Generics using System; public class Program { static void Main() { Type type; type = typeof(System.Nullable); Console.WriteLine(type.ContainsGenericParameters); Console.WriteLine(type.IsGenericType); type = typeof(System.Nullable); Console.WriteLine(!type.ContainsGenericParameters); Console.WriteLine(type.IsGenericType); } }


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Output 17.3 shows the results of Listing 17.5. OUTPUT 17.3: True True True True

Type.IsGenericType is a Boolean property that evaluates whether a

type is generic. Obtaining Type Parameters for a Generic Class or Method

You can obtain a list of generic arguments, or type parameters, from a generic class by calling the GetGenericArguments() method. The result is an array of System.Type instances that corresponds to the order in which they are declared as type parameters of the generic class. Listing 17.6 reflects into a generic type and obtains each type parameter. Output 17.4 shows the results. Listing 17.6: Using Reflection with Generic Types using System; using System.Collections.Generic; public partial class Program { public static void Main() { Stack s = new Stack(); Type t = s.GetType(); foreach(Type type in t.GetGenericArguments()) { System.Console.WriteLine( "Type parameter: " + type.FullName); } // ... } }

OUTPUT 17.4: Type parameter: System.Int32


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Attributes Before delving into details on how to program attributes, you should consider a use case that demonstrates their utility. In the CommandLineHandler example in Listing 17.3, you dynamically set a class’s properties based on the command-line option matching the property name. This approach is insufficient, however, when the command-line option is an invalid property name. /?, for example, cannot be supported. Furthermore, this mechanism doesn’t provide any way of identifying which options are required versus which are optional. Instead of relying on an exact match between the option name and the property name, attributes provide a way of identifying additional metadata about the decorated construct—in this case, the option that the attribute decorates. With attributes, you can decorate a property as Required and provide a /? option alias. In other words, attributes are a means of associating additional data with a property (and other constructs). Attributes appear within square brackets preceding the construct they decorate. For example, you can modify the CommandLineInfo class to include attributes, as shown in Listing 17.7. Listing 17.7: Decorating a Property with an Attribute class CommandLineInfo { [CommandLineSwitchAlias("?")] public bool Help { get { return _Help; } set { _Help = value; } } private bool _Help; [CommandLineSwitchRequired] public string Out { get { return _Out; } set { _Out = value; } } private string _Out; public System.Diagnostics.ProcessPriorityClass Priority { get { return _Priority; }


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Chapter 17: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming set { _Priority = value; } } private System.Diagnostics.ProcessPriorityClass _Priority = System.Diagnostics.ProcessPriorityClass.Normal; }

In Listing 17.7, the Help and Out properties are decorated with attributes. The purpose of these attributes is to allow an alias of/? for/Help, and to indicate that /Out is a required parameter. The idea is that from within the CommandLineHandler.TryParse() method, you enable support for option aliases and, assuming the parsing was successful, you can check that all the required switches were specified. There are two ways to combine attributes on the same construct. You can either separate the attributes with commas within the same square brackets, or place each attribute within its own square brackets, as shown in Listing 17.8. Listing 17.8: Decorating a Property with Multiple Attributes [CommandLineSwitchRequired] [CommandLineSwitchAlias("FileName")] public string Out { get { return _Out; } set { _Out = value; } }

[CommandLineSwitchRequired, CommandLineSwitchAlias("FileName")] public string Out { get { return _Out; } set { _Out = value; } }

In addition to decorating properties, developers can use attributes to decorate classes, interfaces, structs, enums, delegates, events, methods, constructors, fields, parameters, return values, assemblies, type parameters, and modules. For the majority of these, applying an attribute involves the same square bracket syntax shown in Listing 17.8. However, this syntax doesn’t work for return values, assemblies, and modules.


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Assembly attributes are used to add additional metadata about the assembly. Visual Studio’s Project Wizard, for example, generates an AssemblyInfo.cs file that includes numerous attributes about the assembly. Listing 17.9 is an example of such a file. Listing 17.9: Assembly Attributes within AssemblyInfo.cs using System.Reflection; using System.Runtime.CompilerServices; using System.Runtime.InteropServices; // General information about an assembly is controlled // through the following set of attributes. Change these // attribute values to modify the information // associated with an assembly. [assembly: AssemblyTitle("CompressionLibrary")] [assembly: AssemblyDescription("")] [assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("")] [assembly: AssemblyCompany("Michaelis.net")] [assembly: AssemblyProduct("CompressionLibrary")] [assembly: AssemblyCopyright("Copyright © Michaelis.net 2006")] [assembly: AssemblyTrademark("")] [assembly: AssemblyCulture("")] // Setting ComVisible to false makes the types in this // assembly not visible to COM components. If you need to // access a type in this assembly from COM, set the ComVisible // attribute to true on that type. [assembly: ComVisible(false)] // The following GUID is for the ID of the typelib if this project is exposed to COM [assembly: Guid("417a9609-24ae-4323-b1d6-cef0f87a42c3")] // Version information for an assembly consists // of the following four values: // // Major Version // Minor Version // Build Number // Revision // // You can specify all the values or you can // default the Revision and Build Numbers // by using the '*' as shown below: // [assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.*")] [assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.0.0")] [assembly: AssemblyFileVersion("1.0.0.0")]


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The assembly attributes define things such as company, product, and assembly version number. Similar to assembly, identifying an attribute usage as module requires prefixing it with module:. The restriction on assembly and module attributes is that they appear after the using directive but before any namespace or class declarations. Return attributes, such as the one shown in Listing 17.10, appear before a method declaration but use the same type of syntax structure. Listing 17.10: Specifying a Return Attribute [return: Description( "Returns true if the object is in a valid state.")] public bool IsValid() { // ... return true; }

In addition to assembly: and return:, C# allows for explicit target identifications of module:, class:, and method:, corresponding to attributes that decorate the module, class, and method. class: and method:, however, are optional, as demonstrated earlier. One of the conveniences of using attributes is that the language takes into consideration the attribute naming convention, which is to place Attribute at the end of the name. However, in all the attribute uses in the preceding listings, no such suffix appears, despite the fact that each attribute used follows the naming convention. This is because although the full name (DescriptionAttribute, AssemblyVersionAttribute, and so on) is allowed when applying an attribute, C# makes the suffix optional. Generally, no such suffix appears when applying an attribute; it appears only when defining one or using the attribute inline (such as typeof(DescriptionAttribute)).

Custom Attributes Defining a custom attribute is relatively trivial. Attributes are objects; therefore, to define an attribute, you need to define a class. The characteristic that turns a general class into an attribute is that it derives from System.Attribute. Therefore, you can create a CommandLineSwitchRequiredAttribute class, as shown in Listing 17.11.


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Listing 17.11: Defining a Custom Attribute public class CommandLineSwitchRequiredAttribute : Attribute { }

With that simple definition, you now can use the attribute as demonstrated in Listing 17.7. So far, no code responds to the attribute; therefore, the Out property that includes the attribute will have no effect on command-line parsing.

Looking for Attributes In addition to providing properties for reflecting on a type’s members, Type includes methods to retrieve the Attributes decorating that type. Similarly, all the reflection types (PropertyInfo and MethodInfo, for example) include members for retrieving a list of attributes that decorate a type. Listing 17.12 defines a method to return a list of required switches that are missing from the command line. Listing 17.12: Retrieving a Custom Attribute using System; using System.Collections.Specialized; using System.Reflection; public class CommandLineSwitchRequiredAttribute : Attribute { public static string[] GetMissingRequiredOptions( object commandLine) { StringCollection missingOptions = new StringCollection(); PropertyInfo[] properties = commandLine.GetType().GetProperties(); foreach (PropertyInfo property in properties) { Attribute[] attributes = (Attribute[])property.GetCustomAttributes( typeof(CommandLineSwitchRequiredAttribute), false); if ((attributes.Length > 0) && (property.GetValue(commandLine, null) == null)) { if (property.GetValue(commandLine, null) == null) {


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Chapter 17: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming missingOptions.Add(property.Name); } } return missingOptions.Add(property.Name); } }

The code that checks for an attribute is relatively simple. Given a PropertyInfo object (obtained via reflection), you call GetCustomAttributes() and specify the attribute sought, followed by whether to check any overloaded methods. (Alternatively, you can call the GetCustomAttributes() method without the attribute type to return all of the attributes.) Although it is possible to place code for finding the CommandLineSwitchRequiredAttribute attribute within the CommandLineHandler’s code directly, it makes for better object encapsulation to place the code within the CommandLineSwitchRequiredAttribute class itself. This is frequently the pattern for custom attributes. What better location to place code for finding an attribute than in a static method on the attribute class?

Initializing an Attribute through a Constructor The call to GetCustomAttributes() returns an array of objects that will successfully cast to an Attribute array. However, since the attribute in this example didn’t have any instance members, the only metadata information that it provided in the returned attribute was whether it appeared. Attributes can also encapsulate data, however. Listing 17.13 defines a CommandLineAliasAttribute attribute. This is another custom attribute, and it provides alias command-line options. For example, you can provide command-line support for /Help or /? as an abbreviation. Similarly, /S could provide an alias to /Subfolders that indicates that the command should traverse all the subdirectories. To support this, you need to provide a constructor on the attribute. Specifically, for the alias you need a constructor that takes a string argument. (Similarly, if you want to allow multiple aliases, you need to define an attribute that has a params string array for a parameter.)


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Listing 17.13: Providing an Attribute Constructor public class CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute : Attribute { public CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute(string alias) { Alias = alias; }

public string Alias { get { return _Alias; } set { _Alias = value; } } private string _Alias; }

class CommandLineInfo { [CommandLineSwitchAlias("?")] public bool Help { get { return _Help; } set { _Help = value; } } private bool _Help; // ... }

The only restriction on the constructor is that when applying an attribute to a construct, only literal values and types (such as typeof(int)) are allowed as arguments. This is to enable their serialization into the resultant CIL. Therefore, it is not possible to call a static method when applying an attribute. In addition, providing a constructor that takes arguments of type System.DateTime would be of little value, since there is no System.DateTime literal. Given the constructor call, the objects returned from PropertyInfo.GetCustomAttributes() will be initialized with the specified constructor arguments, as demonstrated in Listing 17.14. Listing 17.14: Retrieving a Specific Attribute and Checking Its Initialization PropertyInfo property = typeof(CommandLineInfo).GetProperty("Help");


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Chapter 17: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute attribute = (CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute) property.GetCustomAttributes( typeof(CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute), false)[0]; if(attribute.Alias == "?") { Console.WriteLine("Help(?)"); };

Furthermore, as Listing 17.15 and Listing 17.16 demonstrate, you can use similar code in a GetSwitches() method on CommandLineAliasAttribute that returns a dictionary collection of all the switches, including those from the property names, and associate each name with the corresponding attribute on the command-line object. Listing 17.15: Retrieving Custom Attribute Instances using System; using System.Reflection; using System.Collections.Generic; public class CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute : Attribute { public CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute(string alias) { Alias = alias; } public string Alias { get { return _Alias; } set { _Alias = value; } } private string _Alias; public static Dictionary<string, PropertyInfo> GetSwitches( object commandLine) { PropertyInfo[] properties = null; Dictionary<string, PropertyInfo> options = new Dictionary<string, PropertyInfo>(); properties = commandLine.GetType().GetProperties( BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance); foreach (PropertyInfo property in properties) { options.Add(property.Name.ToLower(), property);


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foreach (CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute attribute in property.GetCustomAttributes( typeof(CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute), false)) { options.Add(attribute.Alias.ToLower(), property); } } return options; } }

Listing 17.16: Updating CommandLineHandler.TryParse() to Handle Aliases using System; using System.Reflection; using System.Collections.Generic; public class CommandLineHandler { // ... public static bool TryParse( string[] args, object commandLine, out string errorMessage) { bool success = false; errorMessage = null; Dictionary<string, PropertyInfo> options = CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute.GetSwitches( commandLine); foreach (string arg in args) { PropertyInfo property; string option; if (arg[0] == '/' || arg[0] == '-') { string[] optionParts = arg.Split( new char[] { ':' }, 2); option = optionParts[0].Remove(0, 1).ToLower(); if (options.TryGetValue(option, out property)) { success = SetOption( commandLine, property, optionParts, ref errorMessage); } else {


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Chapter 17: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming success = false; errorMessage = string.Format( "Option '{0}' is not supported.", option); } } } return success; } private static bool SetOption( object commandLine, PropertyInfo property, string[] optionParts, ref string errorMessage) { bool success; if (property.PropertyType == typeof(bool)) { // Last parameters for handling indexers property.SetValue( commandLine, true, null); success = true; } else { if ((optionParts.Length < 2) || optionParts[1] == "" || optionParts[1] == ":") { // No setting was provided for the switch. success = false; errorMessage = string.Format( "You must specify the value for the {0} option.", property.Name); } else if ( property.PropertyType == typeof(string)) { property.SetValue( commandLine, optionParts[1], null); success = true; } else if (property.PropertyType.IsEnum) { success = TryParseEnumSwitch( commandLine, optionParts, property, ref errorMessage); }


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else { success = false; errorMessage = string.Format( "Data type '{0}' on {1} is not supported.", property.PropertyType.ToString(), commandLine.GetType().ToString()); } } return success; } }

System.AttributeUsageAttribute Most attributes are intended to decorate only particular constructs. For example, it makes no sense to allow CommandLineOptionAttribute to decorate a class or an assembly. Those contexts would be meaningless. To avoid inappropriate use of an attribute, custom attributes can be decorated with System.AttributeUsageAttribute. Listing 17.17 (for CommandLineOptionAttribute) demonstrates how to do this. Listing 17.17: Restricting the Constructs an Attribute Can Decorate [AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property)] public class CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute : Attribute { // ... }

If the attribute is used inappropriately, as it is in Listing 17.18, it will cause a compile-time error, as Output 17.5 demonstrates. Listing 17.18: AttributeUsageAttribute Restricting Where to Apply an Attribute // ERROR: The attribute usage is restricted to properties [CommandLineSwitchAlias("?")] class CommandLineInfo { }

OUTPUT 17.5: ...Program+CommandLineInfo.cs(24,17): error CS0592: Attribute ’CommandLineSwitchAlias’ is not valid on this declaration type. It is valid on ’property, indexer’ declarations only.


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Chapter 17: Reflection, Attributes, and Dynamic Programming AttributeUsageAttribute’s constructor takes an AttributesTargets

flag. This enum provides a list of all the possible targets that the runtime allows an attribute to decorate. For example, if you also allowed CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute on a field, you would update the AttributeUsageAttribute class as shown in Listing 17.19. Listing 17.19: Limiting an Attribute’s Usage with AttributeUsageAttribute // Restrict the attribute to properties and methods [AttributeUsage( AttributeTargets.Field | AttributeTargets.Property)] public class CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute : Attribute { // ... }

Named Parameters In addition to restricting what an attribute can decorate, AttributeUsageAttribute provides a mechanism for allowing duplicates of the same attribute on a single construct. The syntax appears in Listing 17.20. Listing 17.20: Using a Named Parameter [AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property, AllowMultiple=true)] public class CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute : Attribute { // ... }

The syntax is different from the constructor initialization syntax discussed earlier. The AllowMultiple parameter is a named parameter, similar to the name parameter syntax used for optional method parameters (added in C# 4.0). Named parameters provide a mechanism for setting specific public properties and fields within the attribute constructor call, even though the constructor includes no corresponding parameters. The named attributes are optional designations, but they provide a means of setting additional instance data on the attribute without providing a constructor parameter for the purpose. In this case, AttributeUsageAttribute includes a public member called AllowMultiple. Therefore, you can set this member using a named parameter assignment when you use the attribute. Assigning named parameters must occur as the last portion of a constructor, following any explicitly declared constructor parameters.


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Named parameters allow for assigning attribute data without providing constructors for every conceivable combination of which attribute properties are specified and which are not. Since many of an attribute’s properties may be optional, this is a useful construct in many cases.

BEGINNER TOPIC FlagsAttribute Chapter 8 introduced enums and included an Advanced Topic in regard to FlagsAttribute. This is a framework-defined attribute that targets enums which represent flag type values. Here is similar text as a Beginner Topic, starting with the sample code shown in Listing 17.21. Listing 17.21: Using FlagsAttribute // FileAttributes defined in System.IO. [Flags] // Decorating an enum with FlagsAttribute. public enum FileAttributes { ReadOnly = 1 0) { result = new DynamicXml(firstDescendant); } else { result = firstDescendant.Value; } success = true; } return success; } public override bool TrySetMember( SetMemberBinder binder, object value) { bool success = false; XElement firstDescendant = Element.Descendants(binder.Name).FirstOrDefault(); if (firstDescendant != null) { if (value.GetType() == typeof(XElement)) { firstDescendant.ReplaceWith(value); } else { firstDescendant.Value = value.ToString(); } success = true; } return success; } }

The key dynamic implementation methods for this use case are TryGetMember() and the TrySetMember() (assuming you also want to assign the

elements as well). Only these two method implementations are necessary


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to support the invocation of the dynamic getter and setter properties. Furthermore, the implementations are straightforward. First, they examine the contained XElement, looking for an element with the same name as the binder.Name—the name of the member invoked. If a corresponding XML element exists, then the value is retrieved (or set). The return value is set to true if the element exists and false if it doesn’t. Automatically, a return value of false will cause the runtime to throw a Microsoft.CSharp.RuntimeBinder.RuntimeBinderException at the call site of the dynamic member invocation. System.Dynamic.DynamicObject supports additional virtual methods if additional dynamic invocations are required. Listing 17.33 shows the list of all the overridable members. Listing 17.33: Overridable Members on System.Dynamic.DynamicObject using System.Dynamic; public class DynamicObject : IDynamicMetaObjectProvider { protected DynamicObject(); public virtual IEnumerable<string> GetDynamicMemberNames(); public virtual DynamicMetaObject GetMetaObject( Expression parameter); public virtual bool TryBinaryOperation( BinaryOperationBinder binder, object arg, out object result); public virtual bool TryConvert( ConvertBinder binder, out object result); public virtual bool TryCreateInstance( CreateInstanceBinder binder, object[] args, out object result); public virtual bool TryDeleteIndex( DeleteIndexBinder binder, object[] indexes); public virtual bool TryDeleteMember( DeleteMemberBinder binder); public virtual bool TryGetIndex( GetIndexBinder binder, object[] indexes, out object result); public virtual bool TryGetMember( GetMemberBinder binder, out object result); public virtual bool TryInvoke( InvokeBinder binder, object[] args, out object result); public virtual bool TryInvokeMember(


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InvokeMemberBinder binder, object[] args, out object result); public virtual bool TrySetIndex( SetIndexBinder binder, object[] indexes, object value); public virtual bool TrySetMember( SetMemberBinder binder, object value); public virtual bool TryUnaryOperation( UnaryOperationBinder binder, out object result); }

As Listing 17.33 shows there are member implementations for everything—from casts and various operations, through to index invocations. In addition, there is a method for retrieving all the possible member names: GetDynamicMemberNames().

SUMMARY This chapter discussed how to use reflection to read the metadata that is compiled into the CIL. Using reflection, you saw how to provide a late binding in which the code to call is defined at execution time rather than at compile time. Although reflection is entirely feasible for deploying a dynamic system, it is considerably slower than statically linked (compiletime), defined code. This tends to make it more prevalent and useful in development tools. Reflection also enables the retrieval of additional metadata decorating various constructs in the form of attributes. Typically, custom attributes are sought using reflection. It is possible to define your own custom attributes that insert additional metadata of your own choosing into the CIL. At runtime, it is then possible to retrieve this metadata and use it within the programming logic. Many view attributes as a precursor to a concept known as aspectoriented programming, in which you add functionality through constructs such as attributes instead of manually implementing the functionality wherever it is needed. It will take some time before you see true aspects within C# (if ever); however, attributes provide a clear steppingstone in that direction, without forcing a significant risk to the stability of the language.


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Finally, the chapter included a C# 4.0 introduced feature—dynamic programming using the new type dynamic. This section included a discussion of why static binding, although preferred when the API is strongly typed, has limitations when working with dynamic data. The next chapter looks at multithreading, where attributes are used for synchronization.


18 Multithreading

P

2004, increasing computer power primarily involved increasing the power of a single processor. Limits imposed by the physics of today’s silicon microchip technology have forestalled further increases in the power of single processors. Figure 18.1 shows the plateau and even a small drop back, as the threshold of computing power versus heat dissipation stabilized to more maintainable levels. In spite of the plateau, computer power continues to grow and Moore’s Law remains on track as multiple cores (within a single processor) and multiple processors (the microchips that plug into the motherboard) became standard on mainline servers, workstations, and now laptops. Microsoft Windows reflects this available power by showing eight processors on the Windows Task Manager for a four-core machine with Hyper-Threading. RIOR TO

Thread ThreadPool

Canceling a Task Canceling Parallel Loops Canceling PLINQ Querys Task Basics ContinueWith()

6

Multithreaded Programming before TPL

5

TPL Cancellation Requests

4

Multithreaded Programming with Tasks

1

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Parallel.For() Parallel.ForEach()

Unhandled Exceptions

Parallel LINQ

Unhandled Exceptions

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Dual-Core Itanium 2 1,000,000

100,000 Pentium 4 10,000 Pentium 1,000 386 100

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Transistors (000) Clock Speed (MHz) Power (W) Perf/Clock (ILP)

1

0 1970

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1995

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Figure 18.1: Clock Speeds over Time. (Graph compiled by Herb Sutter. Used with permission. Original at www.gotw.ca.)

Although the average computer now comes with multiple processing units or CPUs, the programs discussed so far use only one of those CPUs at a time because each program is single-threaded. This chapter and the next discuss how to write code to take advantage of the processing potential of multiple processing units in a single computer. We achieve the additional throughput that multiple processing units enable by writing multithreaded code, and this involves delving into the System.Threading and System.Threading.Tasks namespaces. These namespaces contain the API for manipulating threads.



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.NET 4 introduced two new sets of APIs for multithreaded programming: the Task Parallel Library (TPL) and Parallel LINQ (PLINQ). Although the threading API from earlier versions of the framework still exists and is fully supported, future enhancements will center on the new APIs and so this chapter focuses on these. However, since prior APIs are still relevant to those targeting earlier frameworks, one section in this chapter covers multithreading prior to .NET Framework 4. In addition, the multithreading chapters from the preceding edition of this book (Essential C# 3.5) are available for download at http://intelliTechture.com/ EssentialCSharp, since much of the material that appeared in earlier editions is just as relevant and important today as it was then if you do not have the luxury of targeting only the .NET Framework 4. Furthermore (albeit unsupported), Microsoft released the Reactive Extensions to .NET (Rx), a separate download that adds support for TPL and PLINQ within the .NET 3.5 Framework. Therefore, any references to .NET Framework 4-introduced capabilities within this chapter and the next imply similar capabilities within .NET 3.5 given references to the System.Threading.dll assembly from the Rx library.

BEGINNER TOPIC Thread Basics A thread is a sequence of instructions that may run concurrently with other instruction sequences. A program that enables more than one sequence to execute concurrently is multithreaded. For example, in order to import a large file while simultaneously allowing a user to click Cancel, a developer creates an additional thread to perform the import. By performing the import on a different thread, the user can request cancellation instead of freezing the user interface until the import completes. An operating system simulates multiple threads running concurrently via a mechanism known as time slicing. Even with multiple processors, there is generally a demand for more threads than there are processors, and as a result, time slicing occurs. Time slicing is a mechanism whereby the operating system switches execution from one thread


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(sequence of instructions) to the next so quickly that it appears the threads are executing simultaneously. The period of time that the processor executes a particular thread before switching to another is the time slice or quantum. The effect is similar to that of a fiber optic telephone line in which the fiber optic line represents the processor and each conversation represents a thread. A (single-mode) fiber optic telephone line can send only one signal at a time, but many people can hold simultaneous conversations over the line. The fiber optic channel is fast enough to switch between conversations so quickly that each conversation appears uninterrupted. Similarly, each thread of a multithreaded process appears to run continuously with other threads. Since a thread is often waiting for various events, such as an I/O operation, switching to a different thread results in more efficient execution, because the processor is not idly waiting for the operation to complete. However, switching from one thread to the next does create some overhead. If there are too many threads, the switching overhead begins to noticeably affect performance, and adding additional threads will likely decrease performance further; the processor spends time switching from one thread to another instead of accomplishing the work of each thread. Even readers new to programming will have heard the term multithreading, most likely in a conversation about its complexity. In designing both the C# language and the framework, considerable time was spent on simplifying the programming API that surrounds multithreaded programming. However, considerable complexity remains, not so much in writing a program that has multiple threads, but in doing so in a manner that maintains atomicity, avoids deadlocks, and does not introduce execution uncertainty such as race conditions. Atomicity

Consider code that transfers money from a bank account. First, the code verifies whether there are sufficient funds; if there are, the transfer occurs. If after checking the funds, a different thread removes the funds, an invalid transfer may occur when execution returns to the initial thread. Controlling account access so that only one thread can access the account at a time



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fixes the problem and makes the transfer atomic. A set of operations is atomic if one of the following two conditions is met: • The entire set of operations must complete before any operation

appears to have executed. • The apparent state of the system must return to the state prior to any

operation executing—as though no steps executed. Returning to the bank transfer example, although composed of multiple steps, the entire set must be one atomic operation. In the process of performing each step, no interruptions (such as a debit) should occur until the complete set finishes. And if the complete set does not finish, it should appear that none did (you can’t debit the money from one account and not credit it to a second, for example). Identifying and implementing atomicity is one of the primary complexities of multithreaded programming. Unfortunately, the complexity increases because the majority of C# statements are not atomic. Count++, for example, is a simple statement in C#, but it translates to multiple instructions for the processor. 1. The processor reads the data in Count. 2. The processor calculates the new value. 3. Count is assigned a new value (even this may not be atomic). After the data is accessed, but before the new value is assigned, a different thread may modify the original value (perhaps also checking the value prior to modifying it), creating a race condition because the value in Count has, for at least one thread’s perspective, changed unexpectedly. Deadlock

To avoid such race conditions, languages support the ability to restrict blocks of code to a specified number of threads, generally one. However, if the order of lock acquisition between threads varies, a deadlock could occur such that threads freeze, each waiting for the other to release its lock. For example:

Time

Thread A

Thread B

Acquires a lock on a

Acquires a lock on b

Requests a lock on b

Requests a lock on a

Deadlocks, waiting for b

Deadlocks, waiting for a


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At this point, each thread is waiting on the other thread before proceeding, so each thread is blocked, leading to an overall deadlock in the execution of that code.

Uncertainty The problem with code that is not atomic or causes deadlocks is that it depends on the order in which processor instructions across multiple threads occur. This dependency introduces uncertainty concerning program execution. The order in which one instruction will execute relative to an instruction in a different thread is unknown. Many times, the code will appear to behave uniformly, but occasionally it will not, and this is the crux of multithreaded programming. Because such race conditions are difficult to replicate in the laboratory, much of the quality assurance of multithreaded code depends on long-running stress tests, specially designed code analysis tools, and a significant investment in code analysis/reviews.

Running and Controlling a Separate Thread The operating system implements threads and provides various unmanaged APIs to create and manage those threads. The CLR wraps these unmanaged threads and exposes them in managed code via the System.Threading.Tasks.Task class, which represents an asynchronous operation. However, a Task does not map directly to an unmanaged thread. Rather, the Task provides a degree of abstraction to the underlying unmanaged thread construct. Creating a thread is a relatively expensive operation. Therefore, whenever you can reuse a thread between two or more sets of instructions (rather than re-creating the thread for each set) the overall execution is potentially more efficient. In .NET Framework 4, instead of creating an operating system thread each time a Task is created, the Task requests a thread from the thread pool. The thread pool evaluates whether to create an entirely new thread or to allocate an existing thread (such as one that previously finished executing) to the Task request.


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By abstracting the concept of a thread into Task, the .NET multithreading API reduces the complexities of efficiently managing the thread—that is, when to create a new operating system thread and when to reuse an existing one. Similarly, the internal behavior of the Task (via System.Threading.ThreadPool) manages when to return a thread to the thread pool for later reuse and when to deallocate the thread and release any resources it may be consuming. The work of programming the Task involves assigning the set of instructions the Task will execute and then starting the Task. Not surprisingly, assigning the instructions is heavily dependent on delegates. Listing 18.1 provides a simple example, and Output 18.1 shows a partial listing of the results. Listing 18.1: Starting a Method in a Separate Thread using System; using System.Threading.Tasks; public class Program { public static void Main() { const int repetitions = 10000; Task task = new Task(() => { for (int count = 0; count < repetitions; count++) { Console.Write('-'); } }); task.Start(); for (int count = 0; count < repetitions; count++) { Console.Write('.'); } // Wait until the Task completes task.Wait(); } }


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Chapter 18: Multithreading OUTPUT 18.1: ...............------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------. .. .................................................... .................................................... .................................................... .................................................... .................................................... ...............---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------. ...... .................................................... .................................................... .................................................... .................................................... .................................................... ..........------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------............................... .................................................... .....................................................

The code that is to run in a new thread is defined in the delegate (of type Action in this case) passed to the Task() constructor. This delegate (in the form of a lambda expression) prints out . to the console repeatedly during each iteration within a loop. The for loop following the Task declaration is virtually identical, except that it displays -. The resultant output from the program is a series of dashes until the thread context switches, at which time the program displays periods until the next thread switch, and so on. (On Windows, it is possible to increase the chances of a thread context switch by using Start /low /b <program.exe> to execute the program. This will assign the entire process a lower priority, causing its threads to be interrupted more frequently, and thus causing more frequent thread switches.) The fact that the output has periods and dashes interleaving indicates that both for loops were running simultaneously—in parallel. Notice that following the Task declaration there is a call to Start(). Until this call is executed, the Action specified to Task doesn’t start executing. Additionally, the call to task.Wait() forces the main thread



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(the one executing the second for loop) to stop and “Wait” until all the work assigned to task has completed executing. Similarly, if the work executed in the task returns a result, then any request for the result will automatically block until the task completes. Listing 18.2 demonstrates Task, which returns a value by executing a Func rather than simply an Action. Listing 18.2: Returning a Result from a Task using System; using System.Threading.Tasks; public class Program { public static void Main() { Task<string> task = Task.Factory.StartNew<string>( () => PiCalculator.Calculate(100)); foreach (char busySymbol in Utility.BusySymbols()) { if (task.IsCompleted) { Console.Write('\b'); break; } Console.Write(busySymbol); } Console.WriteLine(); // Blocks until task completes. Console.WriteLine(task.Result); System.Diagnostics.Trace.Assert( task.IsCompleted); } }

public class Utility { public static IEnumerable BusySymbols() { string busySymbols = @"-\|/-\|/"; int next = 0; while (true) { yield return busySymbols[next]; next = (++next) % busySymbols.Length;


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Chapter 18: Multithreading yield return '\b'; } } }

This listing shows that the data type of the task is Task (specifically a string in this case). The generic version of a task includes a Result property from which to retrieve the value returned by the Func that the Task executes. A second noteworthy characteristic of Listing 18.2 is the fact that there is no call to task.Start(). Instead, it uses the StartNew() method of the static Factory property on Task. The result is similar to instantiating the Task except that the return from Task.Factory.StartNew() is already started. It is rare that using StartNew() won’t suffice unless there is the need to separate instantiating a Task from scheduling it. In addition to the IsCompleted property on Task, there are several others worth noting: Status Status returns a System.Threading.Tasks.TaskStatus enum indicating

the status of the task. Values include Created, WaitingForActivation, WaitingToRun, Running, WaitingForChildrenToComplete, RanToCompletion, Canceled, and Faulted. IsCompleted IsCompleted is set to true when a task completes whether it faulted or not. IsCompleted is true whenever the Status is RanToCompletion, Canceled,

or Faulted. Id Id is a unique identifier of the task. This is especially useful in debugging

when trying to work through multithreading problems such as race and deadlocks. AsyncState

The Id property is useful for identifying the task—naming it, for example. Furthermore, AsyncState can track additional data. For example, imagine



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a List of values that various tasks are calculating. One way to place the result into the correct location of the list is to store the list index targeted to contain the result into the AsyncState property. This way, when the task completes, the code can index into the list using the AsyncState (first casting it to an int). (Note that calling List.Add() is not a safe operation across multiple threads, and calling it will result in a race condition that is likely to result in data loss.) Task.CurrentId Task.CurrentId is a static property on the Task that returns an identifier

for the currently executing Task (the one executing the Task.CurrentId call). Since the property is static, it is available anywhere and is mostly useful for debugging and diagnostic-type activities. As discussed within the context of Task cancellation later in the chapter, additional properties on Task are also available.

ContinueWith() A Task includes a ContinueWith() method for chaining tasks together such that as soon as the first one in the chain completes it triggers the ones that have registered to begin executing after it. Since the ContinueWith() methods return another Task, the chain of work can continue to be added to. It is interesting to note that it is possible to add multiple tasks using ContinueWith() and that such “continue-with” tasks are free to commence immediately upon completion of the antecedent task—the Task instance against which the ContinueWith() method was called. Furthermore, when ContinueWith() is called multiple times on the same antecedent task instance, all tasks that are added will commence running in parallel when the antecedent task completes. The full list of available flags with descriptions from the MSDN TaskContinuationOptions documentation appears in Table 18.1. The values are flags, so they can be combined using the logical OR operator (|). The items decorated with a star (*) are particularly useful for “registering” for “notifications” of the antecedent task’s behavior. Listing 18.3 demonstrates this.1


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Chapter 18: Multithreading TABLE 18.1: List of Available TaskContinuationOptions Enums1

Enum

Description

None

The default continuation option which indicates continue asynchronously with no special task options. It specifies that the continue-with-task should execute “when the antecedent task completes, regardless of the task’s final System.Threading.Tasks. TaskStatus.”

PreferFairness

“A hint to a System.Threading.Tasks. TaskScheduler to schedule a task in as fair a manner as possible, meaning that tasks scheduled sooner will be more likely to be run sooner, and tasks scheduled later will be more likely to be run later.”

LongRunning

“Specifies that a task will be a long-running, course-grained operation. It provides a hint to the System.Threading.Tasks.TaskScheduler that oversubscription may be warranted.”

AttachedToParent

Specifies that a task is attached to a parent in the task hierarchy.

NotOnRanToCompletion*

Specifies that the continuation task should not be scheduled if its antecedent ran to completion. This option is not valid for multitask continuations.

NotOnFaulted*

Specifies that the continuation task should not be scheduled if its antecedent threw an unhandled exception. This option is not valid for multitask continuations.

OnlyOnCanceled*

Specifies that the continuation task should be scheduled only if its antecedent was canceled. This option is not valid for multitask continuations.

NotOnCanceled*

Specifies that the continuation task should not be scheduled if its antecedent was canceled. This option is not valid for multitask continuations.

1. MSDN .NET Framework Developer Center, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ system.threading.tasks.taskcontinuationoptions(VS.100).aspx.



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TABLE 18.1: List of Available TaskContinuationOptions Enums1 (Continued)

Enum

Description

OnlyOnFaulted*

Specifies that the continuation task should be scheduled only if its antecedent threw an unhandled exception. This option is not valid for multitask continuations.

OnlyOnRanToCompletion*

Specifies that the continuation task should be scheduled only if its antecedent ran to completion. This option is not valid for multitask continuations.

ExecuteSynchronously

Specifies that the continuation task should be executed synchronously. With this option specified, the continuation will be run on the same thread that causes the antecedent task to transition into its final state. If the antecedent is already complete when the continuation is created, the continuation will run on the thread creating the continuation.

* Indicates when to run the task.

Listing 18.3: Registering for “Notifications” with ContinueWith() using System; using System.Threading.Tasks; public class Program { public static void Main() { Task<string> task = Task.Factory.StartNew<string>( () => PiCalculator.Calculate(10)); Task faultedTask = task.ContinueWith( (antecedentTask) => { Trace.Assert(task.IsFaulted); Console.WriteLine("Task State: Faulted"); }, TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnFaulted); Task canceledTask = task.ContinueWith( (antecedentTask) => { //Trace.Assert(task.IsCanceled); Console.WriteLine("Task State: Canceled"); },


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Chapter 18: Multithreading TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnCanceled); Task completedTask = task.ContinueWith( (antecedentTask) => { Trace.Assert(task.IsCompleted); Console.WriteLine("Task State: Completed"); }, TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnRanToCompletion); completedTask.Wait(); } }

In this listing, we effectively register for “events” on the antecedent’s task so that if the event occurs, the particular “listening” task will begin executing. This is a powerful capability, especially when using a fire-and-forget behavior on the task—no Wait()-type behavior is invoked on the task. Instead, we can just call Start() or Factory.StartNew(), register for the “notifications,” and then discard the reference to the task. The task will begin executing asynchronously without any need for follow-up code that “checks” the status. In this case, we leave the completedTask.Wait() call so that the program does not exit before the completed output appears (see Output 18.2). OUTPUT 18.2: Task State: Completed.

Even if the task hasn’t finished executing, the program will still exit if no explicit wait is specified. The Wait() method is a means of joining tasks back to the calling thread so that the thread calling Wait() will continue only when the other task (the instance on which Wait() is called) has completed. Typically, this is necessary because one task is relying on the effects or results of the other task. Note that we can’t successfully call Wait() on canceledTask or faultedTask; since the task didn’t and won’t complete the work there is nothing to wait for. The continuation options in Listing 18.3 happen to be mutually exclusive, so when the antecedent task runs to completion and



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completedTask executes, the runtime cancels the canceledTask and faultedTask since they will never run. Therefore, calling Wait() or any

of the other task completion methods (Result or Task.WaitAll()) on either of these tasks will throw an exception indicating that they are no longer executable. Next we take a look at the faulted case.

Unhandled Exception Handling on Task Unlike exception handling on a single thread, we cannot simply wrap Task.Start() in order to catch an exception within the delegate passed to the Task because any exception will obviously occur after the task starts. Exceptions caught and handled within the task execution are also not a problem since try/catch blocks will work just as they would anywhere. What does require care is handling unhandled exceptions thrown from a different thread. Starting with the CLR 2.0, unhandled exceptions on the finalizer thread, thread pool threads, and user-created threads will generally bubble up, triggering the Windows Error Reporting dialog and an application exit as a way of explicitly identifying that there is likely a problem that needs to be addressed. All exceptions for which there is a known handling mechanism, therefore, require an explicit catch block or else they will cause the program to close. Although bubbling up all unhandled exceptions is an improvement over the alternative of ignoring them, it still is not ideal. If an exception occurs for which there is no appropriate handling mechanism within the Task’s execution, but there is appropriate handling logic outside the task, it needs to be possible to catch the exception within higherlevel handlers rather than crashing the application. Fortunately, Task supports this. The unhandled exception during the Task’s execution will be suppressed until a call to one of the task completion members: Wait(), Result, Task.WaitAll(), or Task.WaitAny(). Each of these members will throw any unhandled exceptions that occurred within the task’s execution. Listing 18.4 demonstrates the behavior, the output of which is the message, “ERROR: Error in the application.” demonstrating that indeed an


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exception is thrown (see Output 18.3). By placing the task completion member within a try/catch block, the unhandled exception can be trapped and addressed if desired. Listing 18.4: Handling a Task’s Unhandled Exception using System; using System.Threading.Tasks; public class Program { public static void Main() { Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => { throw new ApplicationException(); }); try { task.Wait(); } catch (AggregateException exception) { foreach (Exception item in exception.InnerExceptions) { Console.WriteLine( "ERROR: {0}", item.Message); } } } }

OUTPUT 18.3: ERROR: Error in the application.

Listing 18.4 demonstrates how the unhandled framework passes the task’s unhandled exception back to the main thread. Notice that the data type of the exception is System.AggregateException—a collection of exceptions that may throw in connection with the (potential) hierarchy of tasks associated with the root task. (We discuss System.AggregateException further in the next major section, Executing Iterations in Parallel.)



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ADVANCED TOPIC Task-Related Finalization Exceptions Suppressed during Application Shutdown Earlier in this section, I stated that, “unhandled exceptions on the finalizer thread… will generally bubble up…., triggering the Windows Error Reporting dialog and an application exit as a way of explicitly identifying that there is likely a problem that needs to be addressed.” Although relatively rare, one of the exceptions for the general rule happens to be on Task. It is possible that a Task that completes during the execution of the program will still have items in the finalization queue when the application shuts down. Any Task-based exceptions thrown from the finalization queue during application exit will go suppressed. The behavior is set this way because frequently the effort to handle such an exception is too complex to offset the likely benign nature of the exception occurring at application exit. Another approach for unhandled exceptions that doesn’t require try/catch is to use a ContinueWith() task. The task parameter on the ContinueWith() delegate allows for an evaluation of the antecedent task’s Exception property to check for the exception (see Listing 18.5 and Output 18.4). Listing 18.5: Unhandled Exceptions Using ContinueWith() using System; using System.Diagnostics; using System.Threading.Tasks; public class Program { public static void Main() { bool parentTaskFaulted = false; Task task = new Task(() => { throw new ApplicationException(); }); Task faultedTask = task.ContinueWith( (parentTask) => { parentTaskFaulted = parentTask.IsFaulted; }, TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnFaulted);


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Chapter 18: Multithreading task.Start(); faultedTask.Wait(); Trace.Assert(parentTaskFaulted); if (!task.IsFaulted) { task.Wait(); } else { Console.WriteLine( "ERROR: {0}", task.Exception.Message); } } }

OUTPUT 18.4: ERROR: in the application.

Rather than calling task.Wait() and throwing an exception, Listing 18.5 uses a ContinueWith() task and calls continueWithTask.Wait() on this task to determine that the original task completed. In addition, the call to task.ContinueWith() passes a TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnFaulted parameter causing this continuation task to execute only if the antecedent task throws an exception. Without the additional parameter, the code execution would have been the same as Listing 18.5 because it would have executed regardless. By specifying the TaskContinuationOptions.OnlyOnFaulted flag, we are able to “register” for the fault “notification.” Notice that to retrieve the unhandled exception on the original task we use the Exception property. The result is an output identical to Output 18.3.

Canceling a Task One particular functional difference between the .NET 3.5 and earlier APIs versus the .NET Framework 4 APIs is support for cancellation requests on threads. The threading API in .NET 3.5 and earlier has little support for cancellation requests and instead relies on a “rude” interruption approach. In this approach, the cancellation of a thread is forced and the target thread has little or no choice about the matter. Calling thread-abort, unloading the AppDomain, or killing the process are all



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examples of “rude” interruption. Such unexpected interruptions as aborting a thread can potentially occur during execution of a vital code block, threatening data integrity caused by partial data updates or inadequate resource de-allocation. Aborting a thread causes a ThreadAbortException exception to occur anywhere within the target thread’s execution. This introduces uncertainty into the thread’s behavior. (To complicate matters, the target thread’s abort call could be rejected by handling the ThreadAbortException exception and issuing a reset abort method call inside the abort-targeted thread—rendering uncertainty in the abort-issuing thread.) Similarly, if the abort-targeted thread is running unmanaged code, the ThreadAbortException exception will not throw until the code returns to managed execution. As a result, except in rare circumstances, developers should consider the rude interruption approach a last resort at best. Of course, the earlier APIs are still fully available in the .NET Framework 4, but the additional PLINQ- and TPL-based APIs support only a cancellation request approach in which the target Task opts in to the cancellation request—a process known as cooperative cancellation. Instead of one “thread” aborting another, the cancellation API “requests” a Task to cancel. By checking the cancellation flag—a System.Threading.CancellationToken—the task targeted for cancellation can respond appropriately to the cancellation request. Listing 18.6 demonstrates both the request and the response to the request. Note that this sample uses a PiCalculator.Calculate() method that we will delve into further in the Executing Iterations in Parallel section. Listing 18.6: Canceling a Task Using CancellationToken using using using using

System; System.Diagnostics; System.Threading; System.Threading.Tasks;

public class Program { public static void Main() { string stars = "*".PadRight(Console.WindowWidth-1, '*');


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Chapter 18: Multithreading Console.WriteLine("Push ENTER to exit."); CancellationTokenSource cancellationTokenSource = new CancellationTokenSource(); Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew( () => WritePi(cancellationTokenSource.Token), cancellationTokenSource.Token); // Wait for the user's input Console.ReadLine(); cancellationTokenSource.Cancel() ; Console.WriteLine(stars); task.Wait() ; Console.WriteLine(); } private static void WritePi( CancellationToken cancellationToken) { const int batchSize = 1; string piSection = string.Empty; int i = 0; while (!cancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested || i == int.MaxValue) { piSection = PiCalculator.Calculate( batchSize, (i++) * batchSize); Console.Write(piSection); } } }

After starting the Task, a Console.Read() blocks the main thread. At the same time, the task continues to execute, calculating the next digit of pi and printing it out. Once the user presses Enter, the execution encounters a call to CancellationTokenSource.Cancel(). In Listing 18.6, we split the call to task.Cancel() from the call to task.Wait() and print out * in between. The purpose of this is to show that quite possibly an additional iteration will occur before the cancellation token is observed—hence the additional 2 in Output 18.5 following the stars. The 2 appears because the CancellationTokenSource.Cancel() doesn’t rudely stop the Task from executing.



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OUTPUT 18.5: Push ENTER to exit. 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164 062862089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095505822317253 59408128481117450 ************************************************************************ 2

Rather, the Cancel() call sets the IsCancellationRequested property on all cancellation tokens copied from CancellationTokenSource.Token. There are a couple things to note from the previous sentence. • Cancellation token: A CancellationToken, not a CancellationTokenSource, is evaluated in the asynchronous task. A CancellationToken

is seemingly similar to the CancellationTokenSource except that the CancellationToken is for monitoring and responding to a cancellation request while the CancellationTokenSource is for canceling the task itself (see Figure 18.2). • Copied: A CancellationToken is a struct, so calling CancellationTokenSource.Token will create a copy of the token. As a result, all

instances of the cancellation token will be thread-safe.

Figure 18.2: CancellationTokenSource and CancellationToken Class Diagrams


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To monitor the IsCancellationRequested property an instance of the CancellationToken (retrieved from CancellationTokenSource.Token) is passed to the parallel task. In Listing 18.6, we then check the IsCancellationRequested property on the CancellationToken parameter after each digit calculation. If IsCancellationRequested returns true, the while loop exits. One other point to note about the CancellationToken is the overloaded Register() method. Via this method, you can register an action that will be invoked whenever the token is canceled. In other words, calling the Register() method subscribes to a listener delegate on the corresponding CancellationTokenSource’s Cancel() (see Listing 18.7 later in the chapter). Since canceling before completing is expected behavior in this program, Listing 18.6 does not throw a System.Threading.Tasks.TaskCanceledException. Because of this, task.Status will return TaskStatus.RanToCompletion—providing no indication that the work of the task was in fact cancelled. In this example, there is no need for such an indication; however, TPL does include the capability to do this. If the cancel call were disruptive in some way—preventing a valid result from returning, for example—throwing a TaskCanceledException (which derives from System.OperationCanceledException) would be the TPL pattern for reporting it. Instead of throwing the exception explicitly, CancellationToken includes a ThrowIfCancellationRequested() method to report the exception more easily, assuming an instance of CancellationToken is available. Throwing the TaskCanceledException on the executing Task results in an AggregateException throw on Task completion members: task.Wait() Task.WaitAny(), or task.Result. This example demonstrates how a long-running operation (calculating pi almost indefinitely) can monitor for a cancellation request and respond if one occurs. There are some cases, however, when cancellation can occur without explicitly coding for it within the target task. (For example, the Parallel class discussed later in the chapter offers such a behavior by default.)

Long-Running Tasks As noted earlier in the chapter, Tasks provide an abstraction over the operating system threads so that the thread pool can efficiently manage



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allocation and de-allocation of the threads. The result is that Tasks use underlying threads that are a shared resource and it is expected that the tasks will be cooperative and return the thread in a timely manner so that other requests can be fulfilled using the same shared resource. However, if the developer knows that a Task is going to be long-running and holding on to an underlying thread resource for a long time, the developer needs to notify the thread pool that it is unlikely to return the shared thread anytime soon. This allows the thread pool to increase the likelihood of creating a dedicated thread for the task, rather than pulling one of the shared threads. To accomplish this, use the TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning option when calling StartNew() as shown in Listing 18.7. Listing 18.7: Cooperatively Executing Long-Running Tasks using System.Threading.Tasks; // ... Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew( () => WritePi(cancellationTokenSource.Token), TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning); // ...

Technically, TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning is actually something that the scheduler needs to take into consideration. However, since the default scheduler is the ThreadPoolTaskScheduler by default, it is the thread pool that takes the long-running parameter into consideration.

Disposing a Task In the listings that depended on Task so far we generally call the task’s Wait() method to ensure that the program doesn’t exit before the task has completed executing. This falls in accordance with the cooperative canceling approach built into TPL since we don’t close the program before the task finishes executing. However, what happens if the program does exit before a task completes? If the Task is still running when the application begins to exit, the underlying thread on which the Task relies will be aborted by the CLR. Therefore, whatever undesirable effects the abort would cause could potentially occur on application exit. The preferable approach would be


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cooperative cancellation in which the Task supports cancellation and the application invokes the cancellation and waits for the task to complete. Note that Task also supports IDisposable. This is necessary to support the Wait() functionality. Wait() relies on WaitHandle, and since WaitHandle supports IDisposable, Task also supports IDisposable in accordance with best practices. However, readers will note that the preceding code samples do not include a Dispose() call nor do they rely on such a call implicitly via the using statement. Technically, invoking Dispose() would be better code, however, so reasonable attempts should generally be made to do this. Although instantiations of a task should generally include a corresponding Dispose() call and without it, any call to Wait() could result in a WaitHandle instance without a Dispose() call, missing this call is not critical. For example, listings in this chapter don’t include Task.Dispose() calls, relying instead on an automatic WaitHandle finalizer invocation when the program exits. In these examples, any call to Dispose() would be inconsequential, so it was left off in favor of elucidation. However, technically, it should be there and developers should generally include it unless the code becomes ugly such that relying on the finalization queue is an acceptable trade-off. Although calling Dispose() does reduce pressure on the finalization queue later on, unless there is an exorbitant number of Tasks and corresponding WaitHandles, there is not a significant resource consumed by not calling Dispose() as soon as possible. Therefore, allowing finalize to be responsible for the resource cleanup is not unreasonable—in cases when a fire-and-forget invocation pattern is desirable, for example.

Executing Iterations in Parallel Consider the for loop statement and the following code that uses such a loop (see Listing 18.8 and the corresponding Output 18.6). The listing calls a method for calculating a section of pi where the first parameter is the number of digits (BatchSize) and the digit to start with (i * BatchSize). The actual calculation is not germane to the discussion, so a full listing appears in the appendix. However, one characteristic that makes this great for multithreading is the fact that the calculation can be split into pieces.


Executing Iterations in Parallel

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Listing 18.8: For Loop Synchronously Calculating Pi in Sections using System; const int TotalDigits = 100; const int BatchSize = 10; class Program { void Main() { string pi = null; int iterations = TotalDigits / BatchSize; for (int i = 0; i < iterations; i++) { pi += PiCalculator.Calculate( BatchSize, i * BatchSize); } Console.WriteLine(pi); } }

using System; class PiCalculator { public static string Calculate(int digits, int startingAt) { // ... } // ... }

OUTPUT 18.6: >3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816 406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725 359408128481117450284102701938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665 933446128475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393 607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590 360011330530548820466521384146951941511609433057270365759591953092186117 38193261179310511854807446237996274956735188575272489122793818301194912

The for loop executes each iteration synchronously and sequentially. However, since the pi calculation algorithm splits the pi calculation into


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independent pieces, it is not necessary to complete the pieces sequentially as long as they are still all appended sequentially. Therefore, imagine if you could have iterations run simultaneously, overlapping each other because each processor could take an iteration and execute it in parallel with other processors executing other iterations. Given the simultaneous execution of iterations, we could decrease the execution time more and more based on the number of processors. Parallel.For()

.NET 4 includes such a parallel for capability through an API on System. Threading.Tasks.Parallel, as shown in Listing 18.9. Listing 18.9: For Loop Calculating Pi in Sections in Parallel using System; using System.Threading; // ... class Program { void Main() { string pi = null; int iterations = TotalDigits / BatchSize; string[] sections = new string[iterations]; Parallel.For(0, iterations, (i) => { sections[i] += PiCalculator.Calculate( BatchSize, i * BatchSize); }); pi = string.Join("", sections); Console.WriteLine(pi); }

The output for Listing 18.9 is identical to Output 18.6; however, the execution time is significantly faster (assuming multiple CPUs). The Parallel.For() API is designed to look similar to a standard for loop. The first parameter is the fromInclusive value, the second is the toExclusive value, and the last is the Action to perform. When using an expression statement (with curly brackets) for the action, the code looks similar to a for loop statement except now each iteration may execute in parallel.



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As with the for loop, the call to Parallel.For() will not complete until all iterations are complete. In other words, by the time execution reaches the string.Join() statement, all sections of pi will have been calculated. It is important to note that the code for combining the various sections of pi no longer occurs inside the iteration (action). Since sections of the pi calculation will very likely not complete sequentially, appending a section whenever an iteration completes will likely append them out of order. Even if sequence was not a problem, there is still a potential race condition because the += operator is not atomic. To address both of these problems, each section of pi is stored into an array and no two or more iterations will access a single element within the array simultaneously. Only once all sections of pi are calculated does string.Join() combine them. In other words, we postpone concatenating the sections until after the Parallel.For() loop has completed. This avoids any race condition caused by sections not yet calculated or sections concatenating out of order. Parallel.ForEach()

Parallel execution of a loop is not limited to the construct of for. Parallel.ForEach() provides similar capabilities for the foreach loop, as shown in Listing 18.10. Listing 18.10: Parallel Execution of a foreach Loop using using using using

System; System.Collections.Generic; System.IO; System.Threading.Tasks;

class Program { // ... static void EncryptFiles( string directoryPath, string searchPattern) { IEnumerable<string> files = Directory.GetFiles( directoryPath, searchPattern, SearchOption.AllDirectories); Parallel.ForEach(files, (fileName) => { Encrypt(fileName); });


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Chapter 18: Multithreading } // ... }

In this example, we call a method that encrypts each file within the files collection and it does so in parallel, executing as many threads as the API determines is efficient. Efficiency is determined by a “hill climbing” algorithm in which additional threads are created until the overhead of additional threads begins to decrease overall performance—at which point the most efficient number of threads is determined (dynamically). The degree of parallelism corresponds to the number of threads that run simultaneously at any particular time.

Parallel Exception Handling with System.AggregateException While executing the query in parallel, there is the potential for multiple exceptions—one for each started iteration. Notice, therefore, that if an exception throws while the loop is executing, the exception type is a System.AggregateException—an exception that contains multiple inner exceptions. In this way, all exceptions within the loop are handled with a single try/catch block. The System.Threading.Task namespace uses the System.AggregateException consistently for grouping together unhandled exceptions because, with parallel operations, there is frequently the potential for multiple exceptions. Consider the example in Listing 18.11 and its output in Output 18.7. Listing 18.11: Unhandled Exception Handling for Parallel Iterations using using using using

System; System.Collections.Generic; System.IO; System.Threading;

class Program { // ... static void EncryptFiles( string directoryPath, string searchPattern) { IEnumerable<string> files = Directory.GetFiles( directoryPath, searchPattern, SearchOption.AllDirectories); try



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{ Parallel.ForEach(files, (fileName) => { Encrypt(fileName); }); } catch (AggregateException exception) { Console.WriteLine( "ERROR: {0}:", exception.GetType().Name); foreach (Exception item in exception.InnerExceptions) { Console.WriteLine(" {0} - {1}", item.GetType().Name, item.Message); } } } // ... }

OUTPUT 18.7: ERROR: AggregateException: UnauthorizedAccessException - Attempted to perform an unauthorized operation. UnauthorizedAccessException - Attempted to perform an unauthorized operation. UnauthorizedAccessException - Attempted to perform an unauthorized operation.

Output 18.7 shows that three exceptions occurred while executing the Parallel.ForEach(...) loop. However, in the code, there is only one catch of type System.AggregationException. The UnauthorizedAccessExceptions were retrieved from the InnerExceptions property on the AggregationException. With a Parallel.ForEach() loop, each iteration could potentially throw an exception and so the System.AggregationException thrown by the method call will contain each of those exceptions within its InnerExceptions property.

Canceling a Parallel Loop Unlike a task which requires an explicit call in order to block until it completes, a parallel loop executes iterations in parallel but still blocks until


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the entire Parallel.For() or Parallel.ForEach() loop completes. Canceling a parallel loop, therefore, generally involves invocation of the cancellation request from a thread other than the one executing the parallel loop. In Listing 18.12, we invoke Parallel.ForEach() using Task.Factory.StartNew(). In this manner, not only does the query execute in parallel, but it also executes asynchronously, allowing the code to prompt the user to “Push ENTER to exit.” Listing 18.12: Canceling a Parallel Loop using using using using

System; System.Diagnostics; System.Threading; System.Threading.Tasks;

public class Program { // ... static void EncryptFiles( string directoryPath, string searchPattern) { IEnumerable<string> files = Directory.GetFiles( directoryPath, searchPattern, SearchOption.AllDirectories); CancellationTokenSource cts = new CancellationTokenSource(); ParallelOptions parallelOptions = new ParallelOptions { CancellationToken = cts.Token }; cts.Token.Register( () => Console.WriteLine("Cancelling...")); Console.WriteLine("Push ENTER to exit."); Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => { try { Parallel.ForEach( files, parallelOptions, (fileName, loopState) => { Encrypt(fileName); });



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} catch(OperationCanceledException){} }); // Wait for the user's input Console.Read(); // Cancel the query cts.Cancel(); Console.Write(stars); task.Wait(); } }

The parallel loops use the same cancellation token pattern that Tasks use. The CancellationTokenSource.Token property is associated with the parallel loop via overloads on the parallel loops—overloads that take a System.Threading.ParallelOptions object. This object includes a Token property of type CancellationTokenSource. Note that internally the parallel loop case prevents new iterations that haven’t started yet from commencing via the IsCancellationRequested property. Existing executing iterations will run to their respective termination points. Furthermore, calling Cancel() even after all iterations have completed will still cause the registered cancel event (via cts.Token.Register()) to execute. Also, the only means by which Parallel is able to acknowledge that the cancellation request has been processed (versus completed successfully) is via the OperationCanceledException. Given that cancellation in this example is an option for the user, the exception is caught and ignored, allowing the application to display “Canceling . . .” followed by a line of stars before exiting.

ADVANCED TOPIC Parallel Results and Options Although uncommon, it is possible to control the maximum degree of parallelism via the ParallelOptions parameter on overloads of both the Parallel.For() and Parallel.ForEach() loops. Although Microsoft has invested significantly across a wide range of processor counts, to


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determine optimal numbers for the degree of parallelism—at least in the general case—there are specific cases where the developer knows more about the specific algorithm or circumstance such that changing the maximum degree of parallelism makes sense. Circumstances include: • Setting the value to 1. This can be a means of turning off parallelism in

order to simplify debugging. • Knowing that the algorithm doesn’t scale beyond a certain upper

bound—for example, if the algorithm is limited by additional hardware constraints such as the number of USB ports that are available. • If the body of the iteration is blocked for long periods, and creating

additional parallel iterations (possibly also with extended blocking) will not increase the throughput and instead will cause unnecessary context switching with little to no progress. To control the maximum degree of parallel, use the ParallelOptions.MaxDegreeOfParallelism property. Additional settings available on an instance of ParallelOptions include a specific task scheduler (ParallelOptions.TaskScheduler) and the cancellation token (ParallelOptions.CancellationToken). The task scheduler has complete control over a Task’s execution, including when, in what sequence, and on what thread a task executes. For example, if a user repeatedly clicks Next to proceed to the next screen—and all of the screens are loaded asynchronously—you may want to execute iterations that load the data in last in, first out (LIFO) order because the user perhaps only wants to see the last screen he requested. Alternatively, if the save operation occurs multiple times, again asynchronously, you probably want to enter the save requests in first in, first out (FIFO) order to avoid any overwriting of later changes. The task scheduler provides a means of specifying how the tasks will execute in relation to each other. The CancellationToken provides a mechanism to communicate to the loop that no further iterations should start. Additionally, the body of an iteration can watch the cancellation token to determine if an early exit from the iteration is in order. Like a standard for loop, Parallel’s loops also support the concept of breaking to exit the loop and canceling any further



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iterations. In the context of parallel for execution, however, break identifies that no new iterations following the breaking iteration should start. All currently executing iterations will run to completion. For example, given the following circumstances: • A total of ten iterations numbered sequentially from 1 to 10 • Iteration 1 has run to completion • Iterations 3, 5, 7, and 9 are currently executing (remember, the order

of execution is determined by the task scheduler and is not necessarily sequential) • A break (ParallelLoopState.Break()) executes on iterations 5 and 7

at the conclusion of the parallel loop, iterations 1 through 5, 7, and 9 will complete. Iterations 6 and 8 will not complete (they never even started before 5 was canceled). To determine the lowest iteration to execute a break and identify whether the break prevented one or more iterations from starting, the parallel For()/Foreach() method returns a System.Threading.ParallelLoopResult object. This result object has the following properties: • IsCompleted: returns a Boolean indicating whether all iterations

started. • LowestBreakIteration: identifies the lowest iteration that executed a

break. The value is of type long?, where a value of null indicates no break statement was encountered. Returning to the ten-iteration example, the IsCompleted property will return false and the LowestBreakIteration will return a value of 5. The C# break statement equivalent is possible using the ParallelLoopState.Break() method where the ParallelLoopState is a type parameter on the Action specified in some of the parallel For()/Foreach()loop overloads. In addition to ParallelLoopState.Break() there is also a ParallelLoopState.Stop(). The behavior is similar to break except that iterations that have not yet started, even those prior to the iteration executing the


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Chapter 18: Multithreading ParallelLoopState.Stop(), will not be allowed to start. Returning to the

ten-iteration example but replacing the break with a stop (ParallelLoopState.Stop()) will vary the results slightly. Instead of iterations 1 through 7 executing through completion, only the odd iterations will run to completion. Further overloads on both parallel functions include Func and Action parameters for handling initialization and final execution expressions, respectively, for each task used in the parallel loop. Overloads are available for passing state regarding early exit to be passed between iterations.

Running LINQ Queries in Parallel With Listing 18.10, we enumerate over the collection using Parallel.ForEach(). It is also possible to execute LINQ queries in parallel using the Parallel LINQ API, PLINQ. Consider Listing 18.13. Listing 18.13: LINQ Select() using System.Linq; class Cryptographer { // ... public List<string> SynchronousEncrypt(List<string> data) { return data.Select( (item) => Encrypt(item)).ToList(); } // ... }

In Listing 18.13, we have a LINQ query using the Select() standard query operator to encrypt each string within the collection. Consider the same code in Listing 18.14, except that in this listing, the code encrypts the strings in parallel. Listing 18.14: Parallel LINQ Select() using System.Linq; class Cryptographer


Running LINQ Queries in Parallel

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{ // ... public List<string> ParallelEncrypt(List<string> data) { return data.AsParallel().Select( (item) => Encrypt(item)).ToList(); } // ... }

As Listing 18.14 shows, the change to enable parallel support is minimal. All that it uses is a .NET Framework 4-introduced standard query operator, AsParallel(), on the static class System.Linq.ParallelEnumerable. Using this simple extension method, the runtime begins executing over the items within the data collection and encrypting them in parallel. The result is a completion time that gets noticeably shorter than the synchronous alternative over a significantly sized set when there are multiple processors. System.Linq.ParallelEnumerable includes a superset of the query operators available on System.Linq.Enumerable, resulting in possible performance improvements for all of the predominant query operators including those used for filtering (Where()), projecting (Select()), joining, grouping, and aggregating. Listing 18.15: Parallel LINQ with Standard Query Operators // ... ParallelQuery parallelGroups; parallelGroups = data.AsParallel(). OrderBy(item => item). // Show the total count of items still // matches the original count System.Diagnostics.Trace.Assert( data.Count == parallelGroups.Sum( item => item.Count())); // ...

As Listing 18.15 shows, invoking the parallel version simply involves a call to the IEnumerable.AsParallel() extension method. Furthermore, the result of calling a parallel standard query operator is a parallel enumerator,


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usually ParallelQuery, which means that further operations on the result of a PLINQ query will be performed in parallel. To use PLINQ with query expressions, the process is very similar (see Listing 18.16). Listing 18.16: Parallel LINQ with Query Expressions // ... ParallelQuery parallelGroups; parallelGroups = from text in data.AsParallel() orderby text group text by text[0]; // Show the total count of items still // matches the original count System.Diagnostics.Trace.Assert( data.Count == parallelGroups.Sum( item => item.Count())); // ...

As you saw in the previous examples, converting a query to execute in parallel is simple. There is one significant caveat, however. As we will discuss in depth in the next chapter, you must take care not to allow multiple threads to inappropriately access and modify the same memory simultaneously. Doing so will cause a race condition. Just as with parallel for and foreach, PLINQ operations also have the potential of returning multiple exceptions for the exact same reason (simultaneous execution of iterations). Fortunately, the mechanism for catching the exceptions is the same as well; PLINQ exceptions are accessible via the InnerExceptions property of the AggregateException. Therefore, wrapping a PLINQ query in a try/catch block with the exception type of System.AggregateException will successfully handle any exceptions within each iteration that were unhandled.

Canceling a PLINQ Query Not surprisingly, the cancellation request pattern is also available on PLINQ queries. Listing 18.16 (with Output 18.8) provides an example. Like the parallel loops, canceled PLINQ queries will throw a System.OperationCanceledException. Also, PLINQ queries block the calling thread until they complete. Therefore, Listing 18.17 also wraps the query in a task.


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Listing 18.17: Canceling a Parallel Loop using using using using using

System; System.Collections.Generic; System.Linq; System.Threading; System.Threading.Tasks;

public class Program { public static List<string> ParallelEncrypt( List<string> data, CancellationToken cancellationToken) { return data.AsParallel().WithCancellation( cancellationToken).Select( (item) => Encrypt(item)).ToList(); } public static void Main() { List<string> data = Utility.GetData(1000000).ToList(); CancellationTokenSource cts = new CancellationTokenSource(); Console.WriteLine("Push ENTER to exit."); Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => { data = ParallelEncrypt(data, cts.Token); } , cts.Token); // Wait for the user's input Console.Read(); cts.Cancel(); Console.Write(stars); try{task.Wait();} catch (AggregateException){}

}

// ... }

OUTPUT 18.8: ERROR: The operation was canceled.


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As with a parallel loop, canceling a PLINQ query requires a CancellationToken, which is available on a CancellationTokenSource.Token property. However, rather than overloading every PLINQ query to support the cancellation token, the ParallelQuery object returned by IEnumerable’s AsParallel() method includes a WithCancellation() extension method that simply takes a CancellationToken. As a result, calling Cancel() on the CancellationTokenSource object will request the parallel query to cancel—because it checks the IsCancellationRequested property on the CancellationToken. As mentioned, canceling a PLINQ query will throw an exception in place of returning the complete result. Therefore, all canceled PLINQ queries will need to be wrapped by try{…}/catch(OperationCanceledException){…} blocks to avoid an unhandled exception. Alternatively, as shown in Listing 18.17, pass the CancellationToken to both ParallelEncrypt() and as a second parameter on StartNew(). This will cause task.Wait() to throw an AggregateException whose InnerException property will be set to a TaskCanceledException.

Multithreading before .NET Framework 4 TPL is a fantastic library covering a multitude of multithreading patterns with extensibility points to handle even more. However, there is one significant drawback to TPL: It is available only for the .NET Framework 4 or for use with the Rx library in .NET 3.5. In this section, we cover multithreading technology before TPL.

Asynchronous Operations with System.Threading.Thread Listing 18.18 (with Output 18.9) provides an example. Like TPL, there is a fundamental type, System.Threading.Thread, which is used to control an asynchronous operation. Like System.Threading.Tasks.Task in TPL, Thread includes a Start method and a wait equivalent, Join(). Listing 18.18: Starting a Method Using System.Threading.Thread using System; using System.Threading; public class RunningASeparateThread


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{ public const int Repetitions = 1000; public static void Main() { ThreadStart threadStart = DoWork; Thread thread = new Thread(threadStart); thread.Start(); for (int count = 0; count < Repetitions; count++) { Console.Write('-'); } thread.Join(); } public static void DoWork() { for (int count = 0; count < Repetitions; count++) { Console.Write('.'); } } }

OUTPUT 18.9: ................................------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ......................----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ ............................................................................ .........---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------............................................................................ .............................................................................


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Like the output of Listing 18.9, which used TPL, Listing 18.18’s code (see Output 18.9) intersperses . and – in the output. The code that is to execute in a new thread appears in the DoWork() method. The DoWork() method outputs a . during each iteration within a loop. Besides the fact that it contains code for starting another thread, the Main() method is virtually identical in structure to DoWork(), except that it displays -. The resultant output is due to a series of dashes until the thread context switches, at which time the program displays periods until the next thread switch, and so on.2 In order for code to run under the context of a different thread, you need a delegate of type System.Threading.ThreadStart or System. Threading.ParameterizedThreadStart (the latter allows for a single parameter of type object), identifying the code to execute. Given a Thread instance created using the thread-start delegate constructor, you can start the thread executing with a call to thread.Start(). (Listing 18.18 shows the ThreadStart explicitly to identify the delegate type. In general, DoWork could be passed directly to the thread constructor using C# 2.0’s delegate inference.) Starting the thread simply involves a call to Thread.Start(). As soon as the DoWork() method begins execution, the call to Thread. Start() returns and executes the for loop in the Main() method. The threads are now independent and neither waits for the other. The output from Listing 18.18 and Listing 18.19 will intermingle the output of each thread, instead of creating a series of . followed by -.

Thread Management Threads include a number of methods and properties for managing their execution. • Join(): Once threads are started, you can cause a “wait for comple-

tion” with a call to thread.Join(). The calling thread will wait until the thread instance terminates. The Join() method is overloaded to take either an int or a TimeSpan to support a maximum time to wait for thread completion before continuing execution.

2. As mentioned earlier, it is possible to increase the chances of a thread context switch by using Start /low /b <program.exe> to execute the program.



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• IsBackground: Another thread configuration option is the thread.IsBackGround property. By default, a thread is a foreground

thread, meaning the process will not terminate until the thread completes. In contrast, setting the IsBackground property to true will allow process execution to terminate prior to a thread’s completion. • Priority: When using the Join() method, you can increase or

decrease the thread’s priority by setting the Priority to a new ThreadPriority enum value (Lowest, BelowNormal, Normal, AboveNormal, or Highest). • ThreadState: A thread’s state is accessible through the ThreadState

property, a more precise reflection of the Boolean IsAlive property. The ThreadState enum flag values are Aborted, AbortRequested, Background, Running, Stopped, StopRequested, Suspended, SuspendRequested, Unstarted, and WaitSleepJoin. The flag names indicate activities that may occur on a thread. Two noteworthy methods are Thread.Sleep() and Abort(). • Thread.Sleep(): Thread.Sleep() is a static method that pauses the

current thread for a period. A single parameter (in milliseconds, or a TimeSpan) specifies how long the active thread waits before continuing execution. This enables switching to a different thread for a specific period. This method is not for accurate timing. Returns can occur hundreds of milliseconds before or after the specified time. • Abort(): A thread’s Abort() method causes a ThreadAbortException

to be thrown within the target thread at whatever location the thread is executing when Abort() is invoked. As already detailed, aborting a thread introduces uncertainty into the thread’s behavior and could cause data integrity and resource cleanup problems. Developers should consider the Abort() method to be a last resort. Instead, they should rely on threads running to completion and/or signaling them to escape out of whatever code is running via some with shared state. From this list of Thread members, only Join() and ThreadState have Task equivalents. For the most part, this is because there are generally preferable


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equivalents or the behavior of the member is undesirable as a best practice. For example, aborting a thread may threaten data integrity or inadequate resource de-allocation, as mentioned earlier in the chapter. Therefore, given the .NET Framework 4, developers should generally avoid these members in favor of their task equivalents or alternative patterns entirely. In summary, the general priority for selecting from the asynchronous class options is Task, ThreadPool, and Thread. In other words, use TPL, but if that doesn’t fit, use ThreadPool; if that still doesn’t suffice, use Thread. One particular Thread member that is likely to crop up more frequently because there is no Task or ThreadPool equivalent is Thread.Sleep(). Although, if it doesn’t introduce too much unnecessary complexity, consider using a timer in place of Sleep().

Thread Pooling Regardless of the number of processors, an excess of threads negatively affects performance. To efficiently manage thread creation, TPL makes extensive use of CLR’s thread pool, System.Threading.ThreadPool. Most importantly, the thread pool dynamically determines when to use existing threads rather than creating new ones. Fortunately, the .NET 3.5 Framework includes a version of the System.Threading.ThreadPool, so it is available even without TPL. Accessing threads in ThreadPool is similar to explicit use of the Thread class except that the invocation is via a static method, QueueUserWorkItem() (see Listing 18.19). Listing 18.19: Using ThreadPool Instead of Instantiating Threads Explicitly using System; using System.Threading; public class Program { public const int Repetitions = 1000; public static void Main() { ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(DoWork, '.'); for (int count = 0; count < Repetitions; count++) {



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Console.Write('-'); } // Pause until the thread completes Thread.Sleep(1000); } public static void DoWork(object state) { for (int count = 0; count < Repetitions; count++) { Console.Write(state); } } }

The output is similar to Output 18.9, an intermingling of . and -. This provides more-efficient execution on single- and multiprocessor computers. The efficiency is achieved by reusing threads over and over, rather than reconstructing them for every asynchronous call. Unfortunately, thread pool use is not without its pitfalls. Activities such as I/O operations and other framework methods that internally use the thread pool can consume threads as well. Consuming all threads within the pool can delay execution and, in extreme cases, cause a deadlock. Similarly, if the asynchronous code will take a long time to execute, then it is inappropriate to consume a shared thread from the thread pool and instead favor explicit Thread instantiation (use TaskCreationOptions.LongRunning given TPL as mentioned earlier). Unfortunately, another disadvantage with the thread pool is that, unlike either Thread or Task, the ThreadPool API does not return a handle to the thread or task itself. This prevents the calling thread from controlling it with the thread management functions described earlier in the chapter. Just monitoring state is not available without explicitly adding a custom implementation. Assuming these deficiencies are not critical, developers should consider using the thread pool over explicit thread creation because of it increased efficiency—at least prior to .NET Framework 4 and TPL; the fact that TPL uses the thread pool internally indicates the significance of using it for the majority of multithreading scenarios.


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Unhandled Exceptions on the AppDomain To catch all exceptions from a thread (for which appropriate handling is known), you surround the root code block with a try/catch/finally block, just as you would for all code within Main(). However, what happens if a third-party component creates an alternate thread and throws an unhandled exception from that thread? Similarly, what if queued work on the thread pool throws an exception? A try/catch block in Main() will not catch an exception on an alternate thread. Furthermore, without access to any “handle” that invoked the thread (such as a Task) there is no way to catch any exceptions that it might throw. Even if there was, the code could never appropriately recover from all possible exceptions and continue executing (in fact, this is why in .NET 4.0 exceptions such as System.StackOverflowException, for example, will not be caught and instead will tear down the application). The general unhandled-exceptions guideline is for the program to shut down and restart in a clean state instead of behaving erratically or hanging because of an invalid state. However, instead of crashing suddenly or ignoring an unhandled exception entirely if it occurs on an alternate thread, it is often desirable to save any working data and/or log the exception for error reporting and future debugging. This requires a mechanism to register for notifications of unhandled exceptions. Registering for unhandled exceptions on the main application domain occurs via an application domain’s UnhandledException event. Listing 18.20 demonstrates that process, and Output 18.10 shows the results. Listing 18.20: Registering for Unhandled Exceptions using System; using System.Threading; public class Program { public static void Main() { try { // Register a callback to // receive notifications // of any unhandled exception. AppDomain.CurrentDomain.UnhandledException += OnUnhandledException;


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ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem( state => { throw new Exception( "Arbitrary Exception"); }); // ... // Wait for the unhandled exception to fire // ADVANCED: Use ManualResetEvent to avoid // timing dependent code. Thread.Sleep(10000); Console.WriteLine("Still running..."); } finally { Console.WriteLine("Exiting..."); } } static void OnUnhandledException( object sender, UnhandledExceptionEventArgs eventArgs) { Exception exception = (Exception)eventArgs.ExceptionObject; Console.WriteLine("ERROR ({0}):{1} ---> {2}", exception.GetType().Name, exception.Message, exception.InnerException.Message); } public static void ThrowException() { throw new ApplicationException( "Arbitrary exception"); } }

OUTPUT 18.10: Still running... Exiting... ERROR (AggregateException):One or more errors occurred. ---> Arbitrary Exception


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The UnhandledException callback will fire for all unhandled exceptions on threads within the application domain, including the main thread. This is a notification mechanism, not a mechanism to catch and process exceptions so that the application can continue. After the event, the application will exit. In fact, the unhandled exception will cause the Windows Error dialog to display (Dr. Watson). And for console applications, the exception will appear on the console. Astute readers will note that in Listing 18.20 we use ThreadPool rather than Task. This is because of the likelihood that the garbage collector will not have executed on Task before the application begins to shut down and any exceptions within the finalization will be suppressed rather than going unhandled. The likelihood of this case in most programs is generally low, but the best practice to avoid significant unhandled exceptions during application exit is to support task cancellation to cancel the task and wait for it to exit before shutting down the application.

SUMMARY This chapter delved into the details surrounding the creation and manipulation of threads using the .NET Framework 4-introduced Task Parallel Library or TPL. This library includes new APIs for executing for and foreach loops such that iterations can potentially run in parallel. Underlying TPL is a new fundamental threading class, System.Threading. Tasks.Task, the basic threading unit on which all of TPL is based. It provides the standard multithreaded programming and monitoring activities and keeps them relatively simple. Given that Task forms the basis for parallel loops (Parallel.For() and Parallel.ForEach()), PLINQ, and more, it is clear that Task and its peer classes also enable a multitude of more complex threading scenarios—including unhandled exception handling and Task chaining/notifications—via Task.ContinueWith. In addition, the chapter demonstrated Parallel LINQ (PLINQ) in which a single extension method, AsParallel(), transforms all further LINQ queries to run in parallel. The elegance and simplicity with which this fits into the framework is superb.


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The chapter closes with a section on multithreaded programming prior to TPL. The foundational class for this is System.Threading.Thread, and when appropriate, static methods on ThreadPool provide efficient means for reusing Threads rather than creating new ones—a relatively inefficient operation. The priority order for choosing an asynchronous class is Task, ThreadPool, and Thread, resorting to a Thread.Sleep(), for example, because neither Task nor ThreadPool offers an equivalent. In making this evaluation, don’t forget to consider using the Rx library in order to gain access to TPL and PLINQ within .NET 3.5. There is one glaring omission from the chapter: synchronization. The introduction mentioned multithreading problems such as deadlocks and race conditions, but the chapter never discussed how to avoid them. This is the topic of the next chapter.





we discussed the details of multithreaded programming using the Task Parallel Library (TPL) and Parallel LINQ (PLINQ). One topic specifically avoided, however, was thread synchronization that prevents race conditions while avoiding deadlocks. Thread synchronization is the topic of this chapter.

I

N THE PRECEDING CHAPTER,

Monitor

6

Windows UI Programming

1

Lock

Synchronization

Volatile System.Threading.Interlocked Synchronization Best Practices

5

Background Worker Pattern

4

Asynchronous Programming Model

More Synchronization Types

Multithreading Patterns

3

2

Thread Local Storage

Mutex WaitHandle Reset Events

Timers

We begin with a multithreaded example with no thread synchronization around shared data—resulting in a race condition in which data integrity is lost. This serves as the introduction for why we need thread synchronization followed by myriad mechanisms and best practices for doing it. The second half of the chapter looks at some additional multithreading patterns. This is really a continuation of the patterns first introduced in 749


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Chapter 18 except that they depend on several of the synchronization tools introduced in this chapter. In addition, the chapter includes a discussion of three timers and Windows-based user interface programming. This entire chapter uses TPL, so the samples cannot be compiled on frameworks prior to .NET Framework 4. However, unless specifically identified as a .NET Framework 4 API, the only reason for the .NET Framework 4 restriction is the use of the System.Threading.Tasks.Task class to execute the asynchronous operation. Modifying the code to instantiate a System.Threading.Thread and use a Thread.Join() to wait for the thread to execute will allow the vast majority of samples to compile on earlier frameworks. Furthermore (as mentioned in the preceding chapter), Microsoft released the Reactive Extensions to .NET (Rx), a separate download that adds support for TPL and PLINQ within the .NET 3.5 framework. This framework also includes the concurrent and synchronization types introduced in this chapter. For this reason, code listings that depend on Task or that introduce C# 4.0 synchronization classes are, in fact, available from .NET 3.5 using the functionality backported to the .NET 3.5 Framework via Rx and reference to the System.Threading.dll assembly.

Synchronization Running a new thread is a relatively simple programming task. What makes multithreaded programming difficult, however, is identifying which data multiple threads could access simultaneously. The program must synchronize such data to prevent simultaneous access. Consider Listing 19.1. Listing 19.1: Unsynchronized State using System; using System.Threading.Tasks; class Program { const int _Total = int.MaxValue; static long _Count = 0; public static void Main() { Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(Decrement);


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// Increment for (int i = 0; i < _Total; i++) { _Count++; } task.Wait(); Console.WriteLine("Count = {0}", _Count); } static void Decrement() { // Decrement for (int i = 0; i < _Total; i++) { _Count--; } } }

One possible result of Listing 19.1 appears in Output 19.1. OUTPUT 19.1: Count = 113449949

The important thing to note about Listing 19.1 is that the output is not 0. It would have been if Decrement() was called directly (sequentially). However, when calling Decrement() asynchronously, a race condition occurs because the individual steps within _Count++ and _Count-- statements intermingle. (As discussed in the Thread Basics Beginner Topic early in Chapter 18, a single statement in C# will likely involve multiple steps.) Consider the sample execution in Table 19.1. Table 19.1 shows a parallel execution (or a thread context switch) by the transition of instructions appearing from one column to the other. The value of _Count after a particular line has completed appears in the last column. In this sample execution, _Count++ executes twice and _Count-occurs once. However, the resultant _Count value is 0, not 1. Copying a result back to _Count essentially wipes out any _Count value changes that occurred since the read of _Count on the same thread.


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns TABLE 19.1: Sample Pseudocode Execution

Main Thread

Decrement Thread

Count

...

...

...

Copy the value 0 out of _Count.

0

Increment the copied value (0), resulting in 1.

0

Copy the resultant value (1) into _Count.

1

Copy the value 1 out of _Count.

1 Copy the value 1 out of _Count.

1

Increment the copied value (1), resulting in 2.

1


2

...

Decrement the copied value (1), resulting in 0.

2


0

...

...

The problem in Listing 19.1 is a race condition, where multiple threads have simultaneous access to the same data elements. As this sample execution demonstrates, allowing multiple threads to access the same data elements likely undermines data integrity, even on a single-processor computer. To remedy this, the code needs synchronization around the data. Code or data synchronized for simultaneous access by multiple threads is thread-safe. There is one important point to note about atomicity of reading and writing to variables. The runtime guarantees that a type whose size is no


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bigger than a native (pointer-size) integer will not be read or written partially. Assuming a 64-bit operating system, therefore, reads and writes to a long (64 bits) will be atomic. However, reads and writes to a 128-bit variable such as decimal may not be atomic. Therefore, write operations to change a decimal variable may be interrupted after copying only 32 bits, resulting in the reading of an incorrect value, known as a torn read.

BEGINNER TOPIC Multiple Threads and Local Variables Note that it is not necessary to synchronize local variables. Local variables are loaded onto the stack and each thread has its own logical stack. Therefore, each local variable has its own instance for each method call. By default, local variables are not shared across method calls; therefore, they are also not shared among multiple threads. However, this does not mean local variables are entirely without concurrency issues since code could easily expose the local variable to multiple threads. A parallel for loop that shares a local variable between iterations, for example, will expose the variable to concurrent access and a race condition (see Listing 19.2). Listing 19.2: Unsynchronized Local Variables using System; using System.Threading.Tasks; class Program { public static void Main() { int x = 0; Parallel.For(0, int.MaxValue, i => { x++; x--; }); Console.WriteLine("Count = {0}", x); } }


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In this example, x (a local variable) is accessed within a parallel for loop and so multiple threads will modify it simultaneously, creating a race condition very similar to Listing 19.1. The output is unlikely to yield the value 0 even though x is incremented and decremented the same number of times.

Synchronization Using Monitor To synchronize multiple threads so that they cannot execute particular sections of code simultaneously, use a monitor to block the second thread from entering a protected code section before the first thread has exited that section. The monitor functionality is part of a class called System.Threading.Monitor, and the beginning and end of protected code sections are marked with calls to the static methods Monitor.Enter() and Monitor.Exit(), respectively. Listing 19.3 demonstrates synchronization using the Monitor class explicitly. As this listing shows, it is important that all code between calls to Monitor.Enter() and Monitor.Exit() be surrounded with a try/finally block. Without this, an exception could occur within the protected section and Monitor.Exit() may never be called, thereby blocking other threads indefinitely. Listing 19.3: Synchronizing with a Monitor Explicitly using System; using System.Threading; using System.Threading.Tasks; class Program { readonly static object _Sync = new object(); const int _Total = int.MaxValue; static long _Count = 0; public static void Main() { Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(Decrement); // Increment for (int i = 0; i < _Total; i++)


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{ bool lockTaken = false; Monitor.Enter(_Sync, ref lockTaken); try { _Count++; } finally { if (lockTaken) { Monitor.Exit(_Sync); } } } task.Wait(); Console.WriteLine("Count = {0}", _Count); } static void Decrement() { for (int i = 0; i < _Total; i++) { bool lockTaken = false; Monitor.Enter(_Sync, ref lockTaken); try { _Count--; } finally { if (lockTaken) { Monitor.Exit(_Sync); } } } } }

The results of Listing 19.3 appear in Output 19.2. OUTPUT 19.2: Count = 0


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Note that calls to Monitor.Enter() and Monitor.Exit() are associated with each other by sharing the same object reference passed as the parameter (in this case _Sync). The Monitor.Enter() overload method that takes the lockTaken parameter was only added to the framework in .NET 4.0. Before that, no such lockTaken parameter was available and there was no way to reliably catch an exception that occurred between the Monitor.Enter() and try block. Placing the try block immediately following the Monitor.Enter() call was reliable in release code because the JIT prevented any such asynchronous exception from sneaking in. However, anything other than a try block immediately following the Monitor.Enter(), including any instructions that the compiler may have injected within debug code, could prevent the JIT from reliably returning execution within the try block. Therefore, if an exception did occur, it would leak the lock (the lock remains acquired) rather than executing the final block and releasing it—likely causing a deadlock when another thread tries to acquire the lock. Monitor also supports a Pulse() method for allowing a thread to enter the “ready queue,” indicating it is up next for execution. This is a common means of synchronizing producer-consumer patterns so that no “consume” occurs until there has been a “produce.” The producer thread that owns the monitor (by calling Monitor.Enter()) calls Monitor.Pulse() to signal the consumer thread (which may already have called Monitor.Enter()) that an item is available for consumption, so “get ready.” For a single Pulse() call, only one thread (consumer in this case) can enter the ready queue. When the producer thread calls Monitor.Exit(), the consumer thread takes the lock (Monitor.Enter() completes) and enters the critical section to begin “consuming” the item. Once the consumer processes the waiting item, it calls Exit(), thus allowing the producer (currently blocked with Monitor.Enter()) to produce again. In this example, only one thread can enter the ready queue at a time, ensuring that there is no “consumption” without “production” and vice versa.


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Using the lock Keyword Because of the frequent need for synchronization using Monitor in multithreaded code, and the fact that the try/finally block could easily be forgotten, C# provides a special keyword to handle this locking synchronization pattern. Listing 19.4 demonstrates the use of the lock keyword, and Output 19.3 shows the results. Listing 19.4: Synchronization Using the lock Keyword using System; using System.Threading; using System.Threading.Tasks; class Program { readonly static object _Sync = new object(); const int _Total = int.MaxValue; static long _Count = 0; public static void Main() { Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(Decrement); // Increment for (int i = 0; i < _Total; i++) { lock (_Sync) { _Count++; } } task.Wait(); Console.WriteLine("Count = {0}", _Count); } static void Decrement() { for (int i = 0; i < _Total; i++) { lock (_Sync) { _Count--; }


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns } } }

OUTPUT 19.3: Count = 0

By locking the section of code accessing _Count (using either lock or Monitor), you make the Main() and Decrement() methods thread-safe, meaning they can be safely called from multiple threads simultaneously. (Prior to C# 4.0 the concept was the same except the compiler-emitted code depended on the Monitor.Enter() method without the lockTaken parameter and the Monitor.Enter() called was emitted before the try block.) Synchronization comes at a cost to performance. Listing 19.4, for example, takes an order of magnitude longer to execute than Listing 19.1 does, which demonstrates lock’s relatively slow execution compared to the execution of incrementing and decrementing the count. Even when lock is insignificant in comparison with the work it synchronizes, programmers should avoid indiscriminate synchronization in order to avoid the possibility of deadlocks and unnecessary synchronization on multiprocessor computers that could instead be executing code in parallel. The general best practice for object design is to synchronize mutable static state (there is no need to synchronize something that never changes) and not any instance data. Programmers who allow multiple threads to access a particular object must provide synchronization for the object. Any class that explicitly deals with threads is likely to want to make instances thread-safe to some extent.

Choosing a lock Object Whether or not the lock keyword or the Monitor class is explicitly used, it is crucial that programmers carefully select the lock object. In the previous examples, the synchronization variable, _Sync, is declared as both private and read-only. It is declared read-only to ensure that the value is not changed between calls to Monitor.Enter() and Monitor.Exit(). This allows correlation between entering and exiting the synchronized block.


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Similarly, the code declares _Sync as private so that no synchronization block outside the class can synchronize the same object instance, causing the code to block. If the data is public, then the synchronization object may be public so that other classes can synchronize using the same object instance. This makes it harder to avoid deadlock. Fortunately, the need for this pattern is rare. For public data, it is preferable to leave synchronization entirely outside the class, allowing the calling code to take locks with its own synchronization object. It’s important that the synchronization object not be a value type. If the lock keyword is used on a value type, then the compiler will report an error. (In the case of accessing the System.Threading.Monitor class explicitly [not via lock], no such error will occur at compile time. Instead, the code will throw an exception with the call to Monitor.Exit(), indicating there was no corresponding Monitor.Enter() call.) The issue is that when using a value type, the runtime makes a copy of the value, places it in the heap (boxing occurs), and passes the boxed value to Monitor.Enter(). Similarly, Monitor.Exit() receives a boxed copy of the original variable. The result is that Monitor.Enter() and Monitor.Exit() receive different synchronization object instances so that no correlation between the two calls occurs.

Why to Avoid Locking on this, typeof(type), and string One common pattern is to lock on the this keyword for instance data in a class, and on the type instance obtained from typeof(type) (for example, typeof(MyType)) for static data. Such a pattern provides a synchronization target for all states associated with a particular object instance when this is used, and all static data for a type when typeof(type) is used. The problem is that the synchronization target that this (or typeof(type)) points to could participate in the synchronization target for an entirely different synchronization block created in an unrelated block of code. In other words, although only the code within the instance itself can block using the this keyword, the caller that created the instance can pass that instance to a synchronization lock. The result is that two different synchronization blocks that synchronize two entirely different sets of data could block each other. Although perhaps unlikely, sharing the same synchronization target could have an unintended performance impact and, in extreme cases, even cause


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a deadlock. Instead of locking on this or even typeof(type), it is better to define a private, read-only field on which no one will block except for the class that has access to it. Another lock type to avoid is string due to string interning. If the same string constant appears within multiple locations it is likely that all locations will refer to the same instance, making the scope of the lock a lot greater than expected. In summary, use a per-synchronization context instance of type object for the lock target.

ADVANCED TOPIC Avoid Synchronizing with MethodImplAttribute One synchronization mechanism that was introduced in .NET 1.0 was the MethodImplAttribute. Used in conjunction with the MethodImplOptions.Synchronized method, this attribute marks a method as synchronized so that only one thread can execute the method at a time. To achieve this, the just-in-time compiler essentially treats the method as though it was surrounded by lock(this) or locking on the type in the case of a static method. Such an implementation means that, in fact, the method and all other methods on the same class, decorated with the same attribute and enum parameter, are synchronized, not just each method relative to itself. In other words, given two or more methods on the same class decorated with the attribute, only one of them will be able to execute at a time and the one executing will block all calls by other threads to itself or to any other method in the class with the same decoration. Furthermore, since the synchronization is on this (or even worse, on the type), it suffers the same detriments as lock(this) (or worse, for the static) discussed in the previous section. As a result, it is a best practice to avoid the attribute altogether. Declaring Fields as volatile On occasion, the compiler and/or CPU may optimize code in such a way that the instructions do not occur in the exact order they are coded, or some instructions are optimized out. Such optimizations are innocuous when code executes on one thread. However, with multiple threads, such optimizations may have unintended consequences because the optimizations may


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change the order of execution of a field’s read or write operations relative to an alternate thread’s access to the same field. One way to stabilize this is to declare fields using the volatile keyword. This keyword forces all reads and writes to the volatile field to occur at the exact location the code identifies instead of at some other location that the optimization produces. The volatile modifier identifies that the field is susceptible to modification by the hardware, operating system, or another thread. As such, the data is “volatile,” and the keyword instructs the compilers and runtime to handle it more exactly.

Using the System.Threading.Interlocked Class The mutual exclusion pattern described so far provides the minimum of tools for handling synchronization within a process (application domain). However, synchronization with System.Threading.Monitor is a relatively expensive operation, and an alternative solution that the processor supports directly targets specific synchronization patterns. Listing 19.5 sets _Data to a new value as long as the preceding value was null. As indicated by the method name, this pattern is the compare/ exchange pattern. Instead of manually placing a lock around behaviorally equivalent compare and exchange code, the Interlocked.CompareExchange() method provides a built-in method for a synchronous operation that does the same check for a value (null) and swaps the first two parameters if the value is equal. Table 19.2 shows other synchronization methods supported by Interlocked. Listing 19.5: Synchronization Using System.Threading.Interlocked class SynchronizationUsingInterlocked { private static object _Data; // Initialize data if not yet assigned. static void Initialize(object newValue) { // If _Data is null then set it to newValue. Interlocked.CompareExchange( ref _Data, newValue, null); } // ... }


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns TABLE 19.2: Interlock’s Synchronization-Related Methods

Method Signature

Description

public static T CompareExchange(

Checks location for the value in comparand. If the values are equal, it sets location to value and returns the original data stored in location.

T location, T value, T comparand ); public static T Exchange( T location, T value ); public static int Decrement( ref int location ); public static int Increment( ref int location ); public static int Add( ref int location, int value

Assigns location with value and returns the previous value.

Decrements location by one. It is equivalent to the -- operator, except Decrement() is thread-safe. Increments location by one. It is equivalent to the ++ operator, except Increment() is thread-safe. Adds value to location and assigns location the result. It is equivalent to the += operator.

); public static long Read( ref long location

Returns a 64-bit value in a single atomic operation.

);

Most of these methods are overloaded with additional data type signatures, such as support for long. Table 19.2 provides the general signatures and descriptions. For example, the System.Threading namespace does not include generic method signatures until C# 2.0, although earlier versions do include nongeneric equivalents. Note that you can use Increment() and Decrement() in place of the synchronized ++ and -- operators from Listing 19.5, and doing so will yield better performance. Also note that if a different thread accessed


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location using a noninterlocked method, then the two accesses would not

be synchronized correctly.

Event Notification with Multiple Threads One area where developers often overlook synchronization is when firing events. The unsafe thread code for publishing an event is similar to Listing 19.6. Listing 19.6: Firing an Event Notification // Not thread-safe if(OnTemperatureChanged != null) { // Call subscribers OnTemperatureChanged( this, new TemperatureEventArgs(value) ); }

This code is valid as long as there is no race condition between this method and modifying the event. However, the code is not atomic, so multiple threads could introduce a race condition. It is possible that between the time when OnTemperatureChange is checked for null and the event is actually fired, OnTemperatureChange could be set to null, thereby throwing a NullReferenceException. In other words, if multiple threads could possibly access a delegate simultaneously, it is necessary to synchronize the assignment and firing of the delegate. Fortunately, the operators for adding and removing listeners are thread-safe and static (operator overloading is done with static methods). To correct Listing 19.6 and make it thread-safe, assign a copy, check the copy for null, and fire the copy (see Listing 19.7). Listing 19.7: Thread-Safe Event Notification // ... TemperatureChangedHandler localOnChange = OnTemperatureChanged; if(localOnChanged != null) { // Call subscribers localOnChanged( this, new TemperatureEventArgs(value) ); } // ...


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Given that a delegate is a reference type, it is perhaps surprising that assigning a local variable and then firing with the local variable is sufficient for making the null check thread-safe. Since localOnChange points to the same location that OnTemperatureChange points to, one would think that any changes in OnTemperatureChange would be reflected in localOnChange as well. However, this is not the case because any calls to OnTemperatureChange += <listener> will not add a new delegate to OnTemperatureChange, but rather will assign it an entirely new multicast delegate without having any effect on the original multicast delegate to which localOnChange also points. This makes the code thread-safe because only one thread will access the localOnChange instance, and OnTemperatureChange will be an entirely new instance if listeners are added or removed.

Synchronization Design Best Practices Along with the complexities of multithreaded programming come several best practices for handling the complexities. Avoiding Deadlock

With the introduction of synchronization comes the potential for deadlock. Deadlock occurs when two or more threads wait for each other to release a synchronization lock. For example, Thread 1 requests a lock on _Sync1, and then later requests a lock on _Sync2 before releasing the lock on _Sync1. At the same time, Thread 2 requests a lock on _Sync2, followed by a lock on _Sync1, before releasing the lock on _Sync2. This sets the stage for the deadlock. The deadlock actually occurs if both Thread 1 and Thread 2 successfully acquire their initial locks (_Sync1 and _Sync2, respectively) before obtaining their second locks. For a deadlock to occur, four fundamental conditions must be met: 1. Mutual exclusion: One thread (ThreadA) exclusively owns a resource such that no other thread (ThreadB) can acquire the same resource. 2. Hold and wait: One thread (ThreadA) with a mutual exclusion is waiting to acquire a resource held by another thread (ThreadB). 3. No preemption: The resource held by a thread (ThreadA) cannot be forcibly removed (ThreadA needs to release its own locked resource).


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4. Circular wait condition: Two or more threads form a circular chain such that they lock on the same two or more resources and each waits on the resource held by the next thread in the chain. Removing any one of these conditions will prevent the deadlock. A scenario likely to cause a deadlock is when two or more threads request exclusive ownership on the same two or more synchronization targets (resources) and the locks are requested in different orders. This is avoided when developers are careful to ensure that multiple lock acquisitions are always in the same order. Another cause of a deadlock is locks that are not reentrant. When a lock from one thread can block the same thread—that is, it is re-requesting the same lock—the lock is not reentrant. For example, if ThreadA acquires a lock and then re-requests the same lock but is blocked because the lock is already owned, the lock is not reentrant and the additional request will deadlock. Therefore, locks that are not reentrant can occur only with a single thread. The code generated by the lock keyword (with the underlying Monitor class) is reentrant. However, as we shall see in the More Synchronization Types section, there are lock types that are not re-entrant. When to Provide Synchronization

As already discussed, all static data should be thread-safe. Therefore, synchronization needs to surround static data that is mutable. Generally, this means that programmers should declare private static variables and then provide public methods for modifying the data. Such methods should internally handle the synchronization. In contrast, instance state is not expected to include synchronization. Synchronization may significantly decrease performance and increase the chance of a lock contention or deadlock. With the exception of classes that are explicitly designed for multithreaded access, programmers sharing objects across multiple threads are expected to handle their own synchronization of the data being shared. Avoiding Unnecessary Locking

Without compromising data integrity, programmers should avoid unnecessary synchronization where possible. For example, use immutable types


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between threads so that no synchronization is necessary (this approach has proven invaluable in functional programming languages such as F#). Similarly, avoid locking on operations on thread-safe operations such as simple reads and writes of an int.

More Synchronization Types In addition to System.Threading.Monitor and System.Threading.Interlocked, several more synchronization techniques are available. System.Threading.Mutex System.Threading.Mutex is similar in concept to the System.Threading.Monitor class (without the Pulse() method support), except that the lock keyword does not use it and Mutexes can be named so that they sup-

port synchronization across multiple processes. Using the Mutex class, you can synchronize access to a file or some other cross-process resource. Since Mutex is a cross-process resource, .NET 2.0 added support to allow for setting the access control via a System.Security.AccessControl.MutexSecurity object. One use for the Mutex class is to limit an application so that it cannot run multiple times simultaneously, as Listing 19.8 demonstrates. Listing 19.8: Creating a Single Instance Application using System; using System.Threading; using System.Reflection; class Program { public static void Main() { // Indicates whether this is the first // application instance bool firstApplicationInstance; // Obtain the mutex name from the full // assembly name. string mutexName = Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().FullName; using( Mutex mutex = new Mutex(false, mutexName, out firstApplicationInstance) ) {


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if(!firstApplicationInstance) { Console.WriteLine( "This application is already running."); } else { Console.WriteLine("ENTER to shutdown"); Console.ReadLine(); } } } }

The results from running the first instance of the application appear in Output 19.4. OUTPUT 19.4: ENTER to shutdown

The results of the second instance of the application while the first instance is still running appear in Output 19.5. OUTPUT 19.5: This application is already running.

In this case, the application can run only once on the machine, even if it is launched by different users. To restrict the instances to one per user, prefix Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().FullName with System.Windows.Forms. Application.UserAppDataPath.Replace( "\\", "+" ) instead. This requires a reference to the System.Windows.Forms assembly. Mutex derives from System.Threading.WaitHandle and, therefore, includes WaitAll(), WaitAny(), and SignalAndWait() methods, allowing it to acquire multiple locks automatically (something Monitor does not support). WaitHandle

The base class for Mutex is a System.Threading.WaitHandle. This is a fundamental synchronization class used by the Mutex, EventWaitHandle, and


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns Semaphore synchronization classes. The key methods on a WaitHandle

are the WaitOne() methods. These methods block execution until the WaitHandle instance is signaled or set. The WaitOne() methods include several overloads allowing for an indefinite wait: void WaitOne(), a millisecond timed wait; bool WaitOne(int milliseconds); and bool WaitOne(TimeSpan timeout), a TimeSpan wait. The versions that return a Boolean will return a value of true whenever the WaitHandle is signaled before the timeout. In addition to the WaitHandle instance methods, there are two key static members: WaitAll() and WaitAny(). Like their instance cousins, the static members also support timeouts. In addition, they take a collection of WaitHandles, in the form of an array, so that they can respond to signals coming from any within the collection. One last point to note about WaitHandle is that it contains a handle (of type SafeWaitHandle) that implements IDisposable. As such, care is needed to ensure that WaitHandles are disposed when they are no longer needed. Reset Events: ManualResetEvent and ManualResetEventSlim

One way to control uncertainty about when particular instructions in a thread will execute relative to instructions in another thread is with reset events. In spite of the term events, reset events have nothing to do with C# delegates and events. Instead, reset events are a way to force code to wait for the execution of another thread until the other thread signals. These are especially useful for testing multithreaded code because it is possible to wait for a particular state before verifying the results. The reset event types are System.Threading.ManualResetEvent and the .NET Framework 4–added lightweight, version System.Threading.Manual ResetEventSlim. (As discussed in the Advanced Topic on page 772, there is a third type, System.Threading.AutoResetEvent, but programmers should avoid it in favor of one of the first two.) The key methods on the reset events are Set() and Wait() (called WaitOne() on ManualResetEvent). Calling the Wait() method will cause a thread to block until a different thread calls


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Set(), or until the wait period times out. Listing 19.9 demonstrates how this

works, and Output 19.6 shows the results. Listing 19.9: Waiting for ManualResetEventSlim using System; using System.Threading; using System.Threading.Tasks; public class Program { static ManualResetEventSlim MainSignaledResetEvent; static ManualResetEventSlim DoWorkSignaledResetEvent; public static void DoWork() { Console.WriteLine("DoWork() started...."); DoWorkSignaledResetEvent.Set(); MainSignaledResetEvent.Wait(); Console.WriteLine("DoWork() ending...."); } public static void Main() { using(MainSignaledResetEvent = new ManualResetEventSlim()) using (DoWorkSignaledResetEvent = new ManualResetEventSlim()) { Console.WriteLine( "Application started...."); Console.WriteLine("Starting task...."); Task task = Task.Factory.StartNew(DoWork); // Block until DoWork() has started. DoWorkSignaledResetEvent.Wait(); Console.WriteLine("Thread executing..."); MainSignaledResetEvent.Set(); task.Wait(); Console.WriteLine("Thread completed"); Console.WriteLine( "Application shutting down...."); } } }


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns OUTPUT 19.6: Application started.... Starting thread.... DoWork() started.... Waiting while thread executes... DoWork() ending.... Thread completed Application shutting down....

Listing 19.9 begins by instantiating and starting a new Task. Table 19.3 shows the execution path in which each column represents a thread. In cases where code appears on the same row, it is indeterminate which side executes first. TABLE 19.3: Execution Path with ManualResetEvent Synchronization

Main( )

DoWork( )

... Console.WriteLine( "Application started...."); Task task = new Task(DoWork); Console.WriteLine( "Starting thread...."); task.Start(); DoWorkSignaledResetEvent.Wait();

Console.WriteLine( "DoWork() started...."); DoWorkSignaledResetEvent.Set();

Console.WriteLine( "Thread executing...");

MainSignaledResetEvent.Wait();

MainSignaledResetEvent.Set(); task.Wait();

Console.WriteLine( "DoWork() ending....");


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TABLE 19.3: Execution Path with ManualResetEvent Synchronization (Continued)

Main( )

DoWork( )

Console.WriteLine( "Thread completed"); Console.WriteLine( "Application exiting....");

Calling a reset event’s Wait() method (for a ManualResetEvent it is called WaitOne()) blocks the calling thread until another thread signals and allows the blocked thread to continue. Instead of blocking indefinitely, Wait()/WaitOne() overrides include a parameter, either in milliseconds or as a TimeSpan object, for the maximum amount of time to block. When specifying a timeout period, the return from WaitOne() will be false if the timeout occurs before the reset event is signaled. ManualResetEvent. Wait() also includes a version that takes a cancellation token, allowing cancellation requests as discussed in the preceding chapter. The difference between ManualResetEventSlim and ManualReset Event is the fact that the latter uses kernel synchronization by default whereas the former is optimized to avoid trips to the kernel except as a last resort. Thus, ManualResetEventSlim is more performant even though it could possibly use more CPU cycles. Therefore, use ManualResetEventSlim in general unless waiting on multiple events or across processes is required. Notice that reset events implement IDisposable, so they should be disposed when they are no longer needed. In Listing 19.9, we do this via a using statement. (CancellationTokenSource contains a ManualResetEvent, which is why it too implements IDisposable.) Although not exactly the same, System.Threading.Monitor’s Wait() and Pulse() methods provide similar functionality to reset events in some circumstances.


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ADVANCED TOPIC Favor ManualResetEvent and Semaphores over AutoResetEvent There is a third reset event, System.Threading.AutoResetEvent, that, like ManualResetEvent, allows one thread to signal (with a call to Set()) another thread that this first thread has reached a certain location in the code. The difference is that the AutoResetEvent unblocks only one thread’s Wait() call because after the first thread passes through the auto-reset gate, it goes back to locked. With the auto-reset event, however, it is too easy to mistakenly code the producer thread with more iterations than the consumer thread. Therefore, it is generally preferred to favor using Monitor’s Wait()/Pulse() pattern or to use a semaphore (if fewer than n threads can participate in a particular block). In contrast to an AutoResetEvent, the ManualResetEvent won’t return to the unsignaled state until Reset() is called explicitly. Semaphore/SemaphoreSlim and CountdownEvent Semaphore and SemaphoreSlim have the same performance differences as ManualResetEvent and ManualResetEventSlim. Unlike ManualResetEvent/ ManualResetEventSlim, which provide a lock (like a gate) that is either

open or closed, semaphores restrict only calls to pass within a critical section simultaneously. The semaphore essentially keeps a count on a pool of resources. When the count reaches zero, it blocks any further access to the pool until one of the resources is returned, making it available for the next blocked request that is queued. CountdownEvent is much like the semaphore except it achieves the opposite synchronization. Rather than protecting further access to a pool of resources that are all used up, the CountdownEvent allows access only once the count reaches zero. Consider, for example, a parallel operation that downloads a multitude of stock quotes. Only when all of the quotes are downloaded can a particular search algorithm execute. The CountdownEvent may be used for synchronizing the search algorithm, decrementing as each stock is downloading and then releasing the search to start once the count reaches zero. Notice that SemaphoreSlim and CountdownEvent were introduced with the .NET Framework 4.


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Concurrent Collection Classes

Another series of classes introduced with the .NET Framework 4 is the concurrent collection classes. These classes are especially designed to include built-in synchronization code so that they can support simultaneous access by multiple threads without concern for race conditions. A list of the concurrent collection classes appears in Table 19.4. TABLE 19.4: Concurrent Collection Classes

Collection Class

Description

BlockingCollection

Provides a blocking collection that enables producer/consumer scenarios in which producers write data into the collection while consumers read the data. This class provides a generic collection type that synchronizes add and remove operations without concern for the backend storage (whether a queue, stack, list, etc.). BlockingCollection provides blocking and bounding support for collections that implement the IProducerConsumerCollection interface.

*ConcurrentBag

A thread-safe unordered collection of T type objects.

ConcurrentDictionary

A thread-safe dictionary; a collection of keys and values.

*ConcurrentQueue

A thread-safe queue supporting first in, first out (FIFO) semantics on objects of type T.

*ConcurrentStack

A thread-safe stack supporting first in, last out (FILO) semantics on objects of type T.

* Collection classes that implement IProducerConsumerCollection.

A common pattern enabled by concurrent collections is support for thread-safe access by producers and consumers. Classes that implement IProducerConsumerCollection (identified by * in Table 19.4) are specifically designed to support this. This enables one or more classes to be


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pumping data into the collection while a different set reads it out, removing it. The order in which data is added and removed is determined by the individual collection classes that implement the IProducerConsumerCollection interface.

Thread Local Storage In some cases, using synchronization locks can lead to unacceptable performance and scalability restrictions. In other instances, providing synchronization around a particular data element may be too complex, especially when it is added after the original coding. One alternative solution to synchronization is isolation and one method for implementing isolation is thread local storage. With thread local storage, each thread has its own dedicated instance of a variable. As a result, there is no need for synchronization, as there is no point in synchronizing data that occurs within only a single thread’s context. Two examples of thread local storage implementations are ThreadLocal and ThreadStaticAttribute. ThreadLocal

To use thread local storage with the .NET Framework 4 involves declaring a field (or variable in the case of closure by the complier) of type ThreadLocal. The result is a different instance of the field for each thread as demonstrated in Listing 19.10 and Output 19.7. Note that a different instance exists even if the field is static. Listing 19.10: Using ThreadLocal for Thread Local Storage using System; using System.Threading; class Program { static ThreadLocal<double> _Count = new ThreadLocal<double>(() => 0.01134); public static double Count { get { return _Count.Value; } set { _Count.Value = value; } } public static void Main() { Thread thread = new Thread(Decrement);


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thread.Start(); // Increment for (double i = 0; i < short.MaxValue; i++) { Count++; } thread.Join(); Console.WriteLine("Main Count = {0}", Count); } static void Decrement() { Count = -Count; for (double i = 0; i < short.MaxValue; i++) { Count--; } Console.WriteLine( "Decrement Count = {0}", Count); } }

OUTPUT 19.7: Decrement Count = -32767.01134 Main Count = 32767.01134

As Output 19.7 demonstrates, the value of Count for the thread executing Main() is never decremented by the thread executing Decrement(). For Main()’s thread the initial value is 0.01134 and the final value is 32767.01134. Decrement() has similar values except they are negative. Since Count is based on the static field of type ThreadLocal, the thread running Main() and the thread running Decrement() have independent values stored in _Count.Value. ThreadStaticAttribute

Decorating a static field with a ThreadStaticAttribute, as in Listing 19.11, is a second way to designate a static variable as an instance per thread. This technique has a caveat over ThreadLocal but it also has the advantage that it is available prior to .NET Framework 4. (Also, since ThreadLocal is based on the ThreadStaticAttribute, it would consume


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less memory and give a slight performance advantage given frequently enough repeated small iterations.) Listing 19.11: Using ThreadStaticAttribute for Thread Local Storage using System; using System.Threading; class Program { [ThreadStatic] static double _Count = 0.01134; public static double Count { get { return Program._Count; } set { Program._Count = value; } } public static void Main() { Thread thread = new Thread(Decrement); thread.Start(); // Increment for (int i = 0; i < short.MaxValue; i++) { Count++; } thread.Join(); Console.WriteLine("Main Count = {0}", Count); } static void Decrement() { for (int i = 0; i < short.MaxValue; i++) { Count--; } Console.WriteLine("Decrement Count = {0}", Count); } }

The results of Listing 19.11 appear in Output 19.8. OUTPUT 19.8: Decrement Count = -32767 Main Count = 32767.01134


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As in the preceding listing, the value of Count for the thread executing Main() is never decremented by the thread executing Decrement(). For Main()’s thread the initial value is a negative _Total and the final value is 0. In other words, with ThreadStaticAttribute the value of Count for each thread is specific to the thread and not accessible across threads. Notice that unlike Listing 19.10, the value displayed for the “Decrement Count” does not have any decimal digits indicating it was never initialized to 0.01134. Although the value of _Count is assigned during declaration—private double _Count = 0.01134 in this example—only the thread static instance associated with the thread running the static constructor will be initialized. In Listing 19.11, only the thread executing Main() will have a thread local storage variable initialized to 0.01134. The value of _Count that Decrement() decrements will always be initialized to 0 (default(double) since _Count is an int). Similarly, if a constructor initializes a thread local storage field, only the constructor calling that thread will initialize the thread local storage instance. For this reason, it is a good practice to initialize a thread local storage field within the method that each thread initially calls. The decision to use thread local storage requires some degree of costbenefit analysis. For example, consider using thread local storage for a database connection. Depending on the database management system, database connections are relatively expensive, so creating a connection for every thread could be costly. Similarly, locking a connection so that all database calls are synchronized places a significantly lower ceiling on scalability. Each pattern has its costs and benefits, and the correct choice depends largely on the individual implementation. Another reason to use thread local storage is to make commonly needed context information available to other methods without explicitly passing the data via parameters. For example, if multiple methods in the call stack require user security information you can pass the data using thread local storage fields instead of as parameters. This keeps APIs cleaner while still making the information available to methods in a thread-safe manner. This requires that you ensure that the thread local data is always set, and it is especially important on Tasks or other thread pool threads because the underlying threads are reused.


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Timers One area where threading issues relating to the user interface may arise unexpectedly is when using one of the timer classes. The problem is that when timer notification callbacks fire, the thread may not be the user interface thread, and therefore, it cannot safely access user interface controls and forms. Several timer classes are available, including System.Windows.Forms. Timer, System.Timers.Timer, and System.Threading.Timer. In creating System.Windows.Forms.Timer, the development team designed it specifically for use within a rich client user interface. Programmers can drag it onto a form as a nonvisual control and control the behavior from within the Properties window. Most importantly, it will always safely fire an event from a thread that can interact with the user interface. The other two timers are very similar. System.Timers.Timer is a wrapper for System.Threading.Timer, abstracting and layering on functionality. Specifically, System.Threading.Timer does not derive from System.ComponentModel.Component, and therefore, you cannot use it as a component within a component container, something that implements System.ComponentModel.IContainer. Another difference is that System.Threading.Timer enables the passing of state, an object parameter, from the call to start the timer and then into the call that fires the timer notification. The remaining differences are simply in the API usability with System.Timers.Timer supporting a synchronization object and having calls that are slightly more intuitive. Both System.Timers.Timer and System.Threading.Timer are designed for use in server-type processes, but System.Timers.Timer includes a synchronization object to allow it to interact with the UI. Furthermore, both timers use the system thread pool. Table 19.5 provides an overall comparison of the various timers. Using System.Windows.Forms.Timer is a relatively obvious choice for user interface programming. The only caution is that a long-running operation on the user interface thread may delay the arrival of a timer’s expiration. Choosing between the other two options is less obvious, and generally, the difference between the two is insignificant. If hosting within an IContainer is necessary, then System.Timers.Timer is the right choice. However, if no specific System.Timers.Timer feature is required, then


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TABLE 19.5: Overview of the Various Timer Characteristics

System. Timers.Timer

System. Threading. Timer

System. Windows. Forms.Timer

Support for adding and removing listeners after the timer is instantiated

Yes

No

Yes

Supports callbacks on the user interface thread

Yes

No

Yes

Calls back from threads obtained from the thread pool

Yes

Yes

No

Supports drag-and-drop in the Windows Forms Designer

Yes

No

Yes

Suitable for running in a multithreaded server environment

Yes

Yes

No

Includes support for passing arbitrary state from the timer initialization to the callback

No

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Supports on-off callbacks as well as periodic repeating callbacks

Yes

Yes

Yes

Accessible across application domain boundaries

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Feature Description

Implements IDisposable

Supports IComponent; hostable in an IContainer

choose System.Threading.Timer by default, simply because it is a slightly lighter-weight implementation. Listing 19.12 and Listing 19.13 provide sample code for using System. Timers.Timer and System.Threading.Timer, respectively. Their code is


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very similar, including the fact that both support instantiation within a using statement because both support IDispose. The output for both listings is identical, and it appears in Output 19.9. Listing 19.12: Using System.Timers.Timer using System; using System.Timers; using System.Threading; // Because Timer exists in both the System.Timers and // System.Threading namespaces, you disambiguate "Timer" // using an alias directive. using Timer = System.Timers.Timer; class UsingSystemTimersTimer { private static int _Count=0; private static readonly ManualResetEvent _ResetEvent = new ManualResetEvent(false); private static int _AlarmThreadId; public static void Main() { using( Timer timer = new Timer() ) { // Initialize Timer timer.AutoReset = true; timer.Interval = 1000; timer.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(Alarm); timer.Start(); // Wait for Alarm to fire for the 10th time. _ResetEvent.WaitOne(); } // Verify that the thread executing the alarm // Is different from the thread executing Main if(_AlarmThreadId == Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId) { throw new ApplicationException( "Thread Ids are the same."); } if(_Count < 9) { throw new ApplicationException( " _Count < 9");


Timers

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}; Console.WriteLine( "(Alarm Thread Id) {0} != {1} (Main Thread Id)", _AlarmThreadId, Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId); Console.WriteLine( "Final Count = {0}", _Count); } static void Alarm( object sender, ElapsedEventArgs eventArgs) { _Count++; Console.WriteLine("{0}:- {1}", eventArgs.SignalTime.ToString("T"), _Count); if (_Count >= 9) { _AlarmThreadId = Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId; _ResetEvent.Set(); } } }

In Listing 19.12, you have using directives for both System.Threading and System.Timers. This makes the Timer type ambiguous. Therefore, use an alias to explicitly associate Timer with System.Timers.Timer. One noteworthy characteristic of System.Threading.Timer is that it takes the callback delegate and interval within the constructor. Listing 19.13: Using System.Threading.Timer using System; using System.Threading; class UsingSystemThreadingTimer { private static int _Count=0; private static readonly AutoResetEvent _ResetEvent = new AutoResetEvent(false); private static int _AlarmThreadId; public static void Main() {


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns // Timer(callback, state, dueTime, period) using( Timer timer = new Timer(Alarm, null, 0, 1000) ) { // Wait for Alarm to fire for the 10th time. _ResetEvent.WaitOne(); } // Verify that the thread executing the alarm // Is different from the thread executing Main if(_AlarmThreadId == Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId) { throw new ApplicationException( "Thread Ids are the same."); } if(_Count < 9) { throw new ApplicationException( " _Count < 9"); }; Console.WriteLine( "(Alarm Thread Id) {0} != {1} (Main Thread Id)", _AlarmThreadId, Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId); Console.WriteLine( "Final Count = {0}", _Count); } static void Alarm(object state) { _Count++; Console.WriteLine("{0}:- {1}", DateTime.Now.ToString("T"), _Count); if (_Count >= 9) { _AlarmThreadId = Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId; _ResetEvent.Set(); } } }



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OUTPUT 19.9: 12:19:36 AM:12:19:37 AM:12:19:38 AM:12:19:39 AM:12:19:40 AM:12:19:41 AM:12:19:42 AM:12:19:43 AM:12:19:44 AM:(Alarm Thread Final Count =

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Id) 4 != 1 (Main Thread Id) 9

You can change the interval or time due after instantiation on System.Threading.Timer via the Change() method. However, you cannot

change the callback listeners after instantiation. Instead, you must create a new instance.

Asynchronous Programming Model Multithreaded programming includes the following complexities: 1. Monitoring an asynchronous operation state for completion: This includes determining when an asynchronous operation has completed, preferably not by polling the thread’s state or by blocking and waiting. 2. Thread pooling: This avoids the significant cost of starting and tearing down threads. In addition, thread pooling avoids the creation of too many threads, such that the system spends more time switching threads than running them. 3. Avoiding deadlocks: This involves preventing the occurrence of deadlocks while attempting to protect the data from simultaneous access by two different threads. 4. Providing atomicity across operations and synchronizing data access: Adding synchronization around groups of operations ensures that operations execute as a single unit and that they are appropriately interrupted by another thread. Locking is provided so that two different threads do not access the data simultaneously.


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Furthermore, anytime a method is long-running, it is probable that multithreaded programming is going to be required—invoking the longrunning method asynchronously. As developers write more multithreaded code, a common set of scenarios and programming patterns for handling those scenarios emerges. The key scenarios relate to notifications of when a thread performing a long-running action completes. One particularly prominent pattern established is the Asynchronous Programming Model (APM) pattern. Given a long-running synchronous method X(), APM uses a BeginX() method to start X() equivalent work asynchronously and an EndX() method to conclude it. (Henceforth we will name these methods X, BeginX, and EndX.)

Calling the APM Listing 19.14 demonstrates the pattern using the System.Net.WebRequest class to download a Web page. Fulfilling Web requests is a relatively longrunning task since they involve network I/O and they are very likely to go across the Internet. WebRequest supports the APM pattern with the methods BeginGetResponse() (BeginX) and EndGetResponse() (EndX)—asynchronous versions of the synchronous GetResponse() (X) method. Listing 19.14: Calling the APM on WebRequest using using using using

System; System.IO; System.Net; System.Linq;

public class Program { public static void Main(string[] args) { string url = "http://www.intelliTechture.com"; if (args.Length > 0) { url = args[0]; } Console.Write(url); WebRequest webRequest = WebRequest.Create(url); IAsyncResult asyncResult = webRequest.BeginGetResponse(null, null);



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// Indicate busy using dots while ( !asyncResult.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne(100)) { Console.Write('.'); } // Retrieve the results when finished // downloading WebResponse response = webRequest.EndGetResponse(asyncResult); using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream())) { int length = reader.ReadToEnd().Length; Console.WriteLine(FormatBytes(length)); } } static public string FormatBytes(long bytes) { string[] magnitudes = new string[] { "GB", "MB", "KB", "Bytes" }; long max = (long)Math.Pow(1024, magnitudes.Length); return string.Format("{1:##.##} {0}", magnitudes.FirstOrDefault( magnitude => bytes > (max /= 1024) )?? "0 Bytes", (decimal)bytes / (decimal)max).Trim(); } }

The results of Listing 19.14 appear in Output 19.10. OUTPUT 19.10: http://www.intelliTechture.com. ........29.36 KB

As mentioned, the key aspect of the APM is the pair of BeginX and EndX methods with well-established signatures. The BeginX returns a System. IAsyncResult object providing access to the state of the asynchronous call in order to wait or poll for completion. The EndX method then takes this return as an input parameter. This pairs up the two methods so that it is


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clear which BeginX method call pairs with which EndX method call. The nature of the APM requires that for all BeginX invocations there must be exactly one EndX invocation, so no two calls to EndX for the same IAsyncResult instance should occur. In Listing 19.14, we also use the IAsyncResult’s WaitHandle to determine when the asynchronous method completes. As we iteratively poll the WaitHandle we print out periods to the console indicating that the download is running. Following that, we call EndGetResponse(). The EndX method serves four purposes. First, calling EndX will block further execution until the work requested completes successfully (or errors out with an exception). Second, if method X returns data, this data is accessible from the EndX method call. Third, if an exception occurs while performing the requested work, the exception will be rethrown on the call to EndX, ensuring that the exception is visible to the calling code as though it had occurred on a synchronous invocation. Finally, if any resource needs cleanup due to X’s invocation, EndX will be responsible for cleaning up these resources. APM Signatures

Together, the combination of the BeginX and EndX APM methods should match the synchronous version of the signature. Therefore, the return parameter on EndX should match the return parameters on the X method (GetReponse() in this case). Furthermore, the input parameters on the BeginX method also need to match. In the case of WebRequest.GetResponse() there are no parameters, but let’s consider a fictitious synchronous method, bool TryDoSomething(string url, ref string data, out string[] links). The parameters map from the synchronous method to the APM methods as shown in Figure 19.1. S y s t e m . I A s y n c R e s u l t B e g i n T r y D o S o m e t h i n g( S t r i n g u r l , r e f s t r i n g d a t a , o u t s tring[] links, S y s t e m .AsyncCallback callback, o b j ect state) bool TryDosomething( s t r i n g u r l , r e f s t r i n g d a t a , o u t s tring[] links) b o o l E n d T r y D o S o m e t h i n g (r e f s t r i n g d a t a, out string[] links, S y s t e m .IAyncResult result);

Figure 19.1: APM Parameter Distribution



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All input parameters map to the BeginX method. Similarly, the return parameter maps to the EndX return parameter. Also, notice that since ref and out parameters return results, these are included in the EndX method signature. In contrast, since url is only an input parameter, it is not included in the EndX method. Continuation Passing Style (CPS) with AsyncCallback

There are two additional parameters on the BeginX method that were not included in the synchronous method. These are the callback parameter, a System.AsyncCallback delegate to be called when the method completes, and a state parameter of type object. Listing 19.15 demonstrates how they are used. (The output is the same as Output 19.10). Listing 19.15: Invoking the APM with Callback and State using using using using using

System; System.IO; System.Net; System.Linq; System.Threading;

public class Program { public static void Main(string[] args) { string url = "http://www.intelliTechture.com"; if (args.Length > 0) { url = args[0]; } Console.Write(url); WebRequest webRequest = WebRequest.Create(url); State state = new State(webRequest); IAsyncResult asyncResult = webRequest.BeginGetResponse( GetResponseAsyncCompleted, state); // Indicate busy using dots while ( !asyncResult.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne(100)) { Console.Write('.'); }


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns state.ResetEvent.Wait(); } // Retrieve the results when finished downloading private static void GetResponseAsyncCompleted( IAsyncResult asyncResult) { State completedState = (WebRequestState)asyncResult.AsyncState; HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)completedState.WebRequest .EndGetResponse(asyncResult); Stream stream = response.GetResponseStream(); StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream); int length = reader.ReadToEnd().Length; Console.WriteLine(FormatBytes(length)); completedState.ResetEvent.Set(); completedState.Dispose(); } // ... }

class WebRequestState : IDisposable { public WebRequestState(WebRequest webRequest) { WebRequest = webRequest; } public WebRequest WebRequest { get; private set; } private ManualResetEventSlim _ResetEvent = new ManualResetEventSlim(); public ManualResetEventSlim ResetEvent { get { return _ResetEvent; } } public void Dispose() { ResetEvent.Dispose(); GC.SuppressFinalize(this); } }

Notice that in Listing 19.15, we pass data for both of the parameters on BeginGetResponse(). The first parameter is a delegate of type System.AsyncCallback that takes a single parameter of type System.AsyncResult. The AsyncCallback identifies the code that will execute once the



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asynchronous call completes. Registering a callback enables a fire-and-forget calling pattern called continuation passing style (CPS) rather than placing the EndGetResponse() and Console.WriteLine() code sequentially below BeginGetResponse(). With CPS we can “register” the code that will execute upon completion of the asynchronous method. Note that it is still necessary to call EndGetResponse(), but by placing it in the callback we ensure that it doesn’t block the main thread while the asynchronous call completes. Passing State between APM Methods

In addition to the AsyncCallback parameter, there is the state parameter, which is used to pass additional data to the callback when it executes. Listing 19.15 includes a WebRequestState class for passing additional data into the callback, and it includes the WebRequest itself in this case so that we can use it to call EndGetResponse(). One alternative to the WebRequestState class itself would be to use an anonymous method (including a lambda expression) with closures for the additional data, as shown in Listing 19.16. Listing 19.16: Passing State Using Closure on Anonymous Method using using using using using

System; System.IO; System.Net; System.Linq; System.Threading;

public class Program { public static void Main(string[] args) { string url = "http://www.intelliTechture.com"; if (args.Length > 0) { url = args[0]; } Console.Write(url); WebRequest webRequest = WebRequest.Create(url); ManualResetEventSlim resetEvent = new ManualResetEventSlim(); IAsyncResult asyncResult = webRequest.BeginGetResponse(


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns (completedAsyncResult) => { HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)webRequest.EndGetResponse( completedAsyncResult); Stream stream = response.GetResponseStream(); StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream); int length = reader.ReadToEnd().Length; Console.WriteLine(FormatBytes(length)); resetEvent.Set(); resetEvent.Dispose(); }, null); // Indicate busy using dots while ( !asyncResult.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne(100)) { Console.Write('.'); } resetEvent.Wait(); } // ... }

Regardless of whether we pass the state via closures or not, notice that we are using a ManualResetEvent to signal when the AsyncCallback has completed. This is somewhat peculiar because IAsyncResult includes a WaitHandle already. The difference, however, is that the IAsyncResult’s WaitHandle is set when the asynchronous method completes but before the AsyncCallback executes. If we only blocked on the IAsyncResult’s WaitHandle we are likely to exit the program before the AsyncCallback has executed. For this reason we use a separate ManualResetEvent. Resource Cleanup

Another important APM rule is that no resource leaks should occur, even if the EndX method is mistakenly not called. Since WebRequestState owns the ManualResetEvent, it specifically owns a resource that requires such



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cleanup. To handle this the state object uses the standard IDisposable pattern with the IDispose() method.

Calling the APM Using TPL Even though TPL simplifies making an asynchronous call on a long-running method significantly, it is generally better to use the API-provided APM methods than to code TPL against the synchronous version. The reason for this is that the API developer best understands the most efficient threading code to write, which data to synchronize, and what type of synchronization to use. Fortunately, there are special methods on TPL’s TaskFactory that are designed specifically for invoking the APM methods. APM with TPL and CPS

TPL includes a set of overloads on FromAsync for invoking the APM. Listing 19.17 provides an example. The same listing expands on the other APM examples to support downloading of multiple URLs; see Output 19.11. Listing 19.17: Using TPL to Call the APM using using using using using using

System; System.IO; System.Net; System.Linq; System.Threading.Tasks; System.Collections.Generic;

public class Program { static private object ConsoleSyncObject = new object(); public static void Main(string[] args) { string[] urls = args; if (args.Length == 0) { urls = new string[] { "http://www.habitat-spokane.org", "http://www.partnersintl.org",


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns "http://www.iassist.org", "http://www.fh.org", "http://www.worldvision.org" }; } int line = 0; Task<WebResponse>[] tasksWithState = urls.Select( url=>DisplayPageSizeAsync( url, line++)).ToArray(); while ( !Task.WaitAll(tasksWithState.ToArray(), 50)) { DisplayProgress(tasksWithState); } Console.SetCursorPosition(0, line); } private static Task<WebResponse> DisplayPageSizeAsync(string url, int line) { lock (ConsoleSyncObject) { Console.WriteLine(url); } WebRequest webRequest = WebRequest.Create(url); WebRequestState state = new WebRequestState(webRequest, line); Task<WebResponse> task = Task<WebResponse>.Factory.FromAsync( webRequest.BeginGetResponse, GetResponseAsyncCompleted, state); return task; } private static WebResponse GetResponseAsyncCompleted( IAsyncResult asyncResult) { WebRequestState completedState = (WebRequestState)asyncResult.AsyncState; HttpWebResponse response = (HttpWebResponse)completedState.WebRequest .EndGetResponse(asyncResult); Stream stream = response.GetResponseStream(); using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream))



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{ int length = reader.ReadToEnd().Length; DisplayPageSize(completedState, length); } return response; } private static void DisplayProgress( IEnumerable> tasksWithState) { foreach ( WebRequestState state in tasksWithState .Where(task => !task.IsCompleted) .Select(task=> (WebRequestState)task.AsyncState)) { DisplayProgress(state); } } private static void DisplayPageSize( WebRequestState completedState, int length) { lock (ConsoleSyncObject) { Console.SetCursorPosition( completedState.ConsoleColumn, completedState.ConsoleLine); Console.Write(FormatBytes(length)); completedState.ConsoleColumn += length.ToString().Length; } } private static void DisplayProgress( WebRequestState state) { int left = state.ConsoleColumn; int top = state.ConsoleLine; lock (ConsoleSyncObject) { if (left >= Console.BufferWidth int.MaxValue.ToString().Length) { left = state.Url.Length; Console.SetCursorPosition(left, top); Console.Write("".PadRight( Console.BufferWidth state.Url.Length)); state.ConsoleColumn = left;


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns } else { state.ConsoleColumn++; } Console.SetCursorPosition(left, top); Console.Write('.'); } } static public string FormatBytes(long bytes) { string[] magnitudes = new string[] { "GB", "MB", "KB", "Bytes" }; long max = (long)Math.Pow(1024, magnitudes.Length); return string.Format("{1:##.##} {0}", magnitudes.FirstOrDefault( magnitude => bytes > (max /= 1024) )?? "0 Bytes", (decimal)bytes / (decimal)max).Trim(); } } class WebRequestState { public WebRequestState( WebRequest webRequest, int line) { WebRequest = webRequest; ConsoleLine = line; ConsoleColumn = Url.Length + 1; } public WebRequestState(WebRequest webRequest) { WebRequest = webRequest; } public WebRequest WebRequest { get; private set; } public string Url { get { return WebRequest.RequestUri.ToString(); } } public int ConsoleLine { get; set; } public int ConsoleColumn { get; set; } }



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OUTPUT 19.11: http://www.habitat-spokane.org ..9.18 KB http://www.partnersintl.org . .........14.74 KB http://www.iassist.org .17.12 KB http:// www.fh.org . .......................35.09 KB http://www.worldvision.org . ........54.56 KB

Connecting a Task with the APM method pair is relatively easy. The overload used in Listing 19.17 takes three parameters. First, there is the BeginX method delegate (webRequest.BeginGetResponse). Next is a delegate that matches the EndX method. Although the EndX method (webRequest.End GetResponse) could be used directly, passing a delegate (GetResponseAsyncCompleted) and using the CPS allows additional completion activity to execute. The last parameter is the state parameter similar to what the BeginX method accepts. One of the advantages of invoking an APM pair of methods using TPL is that we don’t have to worry about signaling the conclusion of the AsyncCallback method. Instead, we monitor the Task for completion. As a result, WebRequestState no longer needs to contain a ManualResetEventSlim. Using TPL and ContinueWith() to Call the APM

Another option when calling TaskFactory.FromAsync() is to pass the EndX method directly and then to use ContinueWith() for any follow-up code. This approach has the advantage that you can query the continue-withTask parameter (see continueWithTask in Listing 19.18) for the result (continueWithTask.Result) rather than storing a means to access the EndX method via an async-state object or using closure and an anonymous delegate (we store WebRequest in Listing 19.17). Listing 19.18: Using TPL to Call the APM Using ContinueWith() // ... private static Tuple, WebRequestState> DisplayPageSizeAsync(string url, int line) { lock (ConsoleSyncObject) {


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns Console.WriteLine(url); } WebRequest webRequest = WebRequest.Create(url); WebRequestState state = new WebRequestState(url, line); Task<WebResponse> task = Task<WebResponse>.Factory.FromAsync( webRequest.BeginGetResponse, webRequest.EndGetResponse, state) .ContinueWith(continueWithTask => { // Optional since state is available // with closure WebRequestState completedState = (WebRequestState)continueWithTask.AsyncState; Stream stream = continueWithTask.Result. GetResponseStream(); using (StreamReader reader = new StreamReader(stream)) { int length = reader.ReadToEnd().Length; DisplayPageSize( completedState, length); } return continueWithTask.Result; }); return new Tuple< Task<WebResponse>,WebRequestState>( task, state); } // ...

Unfortunately, the ContinueWith() approach includes a caveat as well. The AsyncState property on a Task returned by ContinueWith() contains null rather than the state specified in the call to FromAsync(). Accessing the state outside ContinueWith() will require saving it into an alternate location. Listing 19.18 achieves this by placing it into a Tuple and returning that.


Asynchronous Delegate Invocation

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BEGINNER TOPIC Synchronizing Console Using lock In Listing 19.17, we repeatedly change the location of the console’s cursor and then proceed to write text to the console. Since multiple threads are executing that are also writing to the console, possibly changing the cursor location as well, we need to synchronize changes to the cursor location with write operations so that together they are atomic. Listing 19.17 includes a ConsoleSyncObject of type object as the synchronization lock identifier. Using this within a lock construct whenever we are moving the cursor or writing to the console prevents an interim update between move and write operations to the console. Notice that even one-line Console.WriteLine() statements are surrounded with lock. Although they will be atomic, we don’t want them interrupting a different block that is not atomic. Therefore, all console changes require the synchronization as long as there are multiple threads of execution.

Asynchronous Delegate Invocation There is a derivative APM pattern called Asynchronous Delegate Invocation that leverages special C# compiler-generated code on all delegate data types. Given a delegate instance of Func<string, int>, for example, there is an APM pair of methods available on the instance: System.IAsyncResult BeginInvoke( string arg, AsyncCallback callback, object @object) int EndInvoke(IAsyncResult result)

The result is that you can call any delegate (and therefore any method) synchronously just by using the C# compiler-generated methods. Unfortunately, the underlying technology used by the asynchronous delegate invocation pattern is an end-of-further-development technology for distributed programming known as remoting. And although Microsoft still supports the use of asynchronous delegate invocation and it will continue to function as it does today for the foreseeable future, the performance


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characteristics are suboptimal given other approaches—namely Thread, ThreadPool, and TPL. Therefore, developers should tend to favor one of these alternatives rather than implementing new development using the asynchronous delegate invocation API. Further discussion of the pattern is included in the Advanced Topic text that follows so that developers who encounter it will understand how it works.

ADVANCED TOPIC Asynchronous Delegate Invocation in Detail With asynchronous delegate invocation, you do not code using an explicit reference to Task or Thread. Instead, you use delegate instances and the compiler-generated BeginInvoke() and EndInvoke() methods—whose implementation requests threads from the ThreadPool. Consider the code in Listing 19.19. Listing 19.19: Asynchronous Delegate Invocation using System; public class Program { public static void Main(string[] args) { Console.WriteLine("Application started...."); Console.WriteLine("Starting thread...."); Func workerMethod = PiCalculator.Calculate; IAsyncResult asyncResult = workerMethod.BeginInvoke(500, null, null); // Display periods as progress bar. while(!asyncResult.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne( 100, false)) { Console.Write('.'); } Console.WriteLine(); Console.WriteLine("Thread ending...."); Console.WriteLine( workerMethod.EndInvoke(asyncResult));



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Console.WriteLine( "Application shutting down...."); } }

The results of Listing 19.19 appear in Output 19.12. OUTPUT 19.12: Application started.... Starting thread.... ... Thread ending.... 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164 062862089986280348253421170679821480865132823066470938446095505822317253 594081284811174502841027019385211055596446229489549303819644288109756659 334461284756482337867831652712019091456485669234603486104543266482133936 072602491412737245870066063155881748815209209628292540917153643678925903 600113305305488204665213841469519415116094330572703657595919530921861173 8193261179310511854807446237996274956735188575272489122793818301194912 Application shutting down....

Main() begins by assigning a delegate of type Func<string, int> that

is pointing to PiCalculator.Calculate(int digits). Next, the code calls BeginInvoke(). This method will start the PiCalculator.Calculate() method on a thread from the thread pool and then return immediately. This allows other code to run in parallel with the pi calculation. In this example, we print periods while waiting for the PiCalculator.Calculate() method to complete. We poll the status of the delegate using IAsyncResult.AsyncWaitHandle.WaitOne() on asyncResult—the same mechanism available on APM. As a result, the code prints periods to the screen each second during which the PiCalculator.Calculate() method is executing. Once the wait handle signals, the code calls EndInvoke(). As with all APM implementations, it is important to pass to EndInvoke() the same IAsyncResult reference returned when calling BeginInvoke(). In this example, EndInvoke() doesn’t block because we poll the thread’s state in the while loop and call EndInvoke() only after the thread has completed.

Passing Data to and from an Alternate Thread The example in Listing 19.18 passed an integer and received a string—the signature of Func. The key feature of the asynchronous


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delegate invocation is the fact that passing data in and out of the target invocation is trivial; it just lines up with the synchronous method signature as it did in the APM pattern. Consider a delegate type that includes out and ref parameters, as shown in Figure 19.2. (Although more common, this example intentionally doesn’t use Func or Action since generics don’t allow ref and out modifiers on type parameters.)

System.IAs yncResult UpdateHandler.B e g i n I n v o k e ( Object[] data, ref object value , o u t s t r i n g t e x t As y n c C a l l b a c k c a l l b a c k , obj e c t @ o b j e c t ) ; delegate b ool UpdateHandlerFunc object[] data, ref object valu e , o u t s t r i n g t e x t ) ; bool Update H a n d l e r . EndInvoke( ref ob ject value, out text);

Figure 19.2: Delegate Parameter Distribution to BeginInvoke() and EndInvoke()

The BeginInvoke() method matches the delegate signature except for the additional AsyncCallback and object parameters. Like the IAsyncResult return, the additional parameters correspond to the standard APM parameters specifying a callback and passing state object. Similarly, the EndInvoke() method matches the original signature except only outgoing parameters appear. Since object[] data is only incoming, it doesn’t appear in the EndInvoke() method. Also, since the EndInvoke() method concludes the asynchronous call, its return matches the original delegate’s return as well. Since all delegates include the C# compiler-generated BeginInvoke() and EndInvoke() methods used by the asynchronous delegate invocation pattern, invoking any method synchronously—especially given Func and Action delegates—becomes relatively easy. Furthermore, it makes it simple for the caller to invoke a method asynchronously regardless of whether the API programmer explicitly implemented it. And before TPL, the asynchronous delegate invocation pattern was significantly easier than the alternatives, making it a common practice when an API didn’t provide explicit asynchronous calling patterns. However, apart from support for .NET 3.5 and earlier frameworks, the advent of TPL


Event-Based Asynchronous Pattern (EAP)

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diminishes the need for using the asynchronous delegate invocation approach if it occurs at all.

Event-Based Asynchronous Pattern (EAP)1 Another pattern more typical of higher-level programming than that of the APM is the Event-based Asynchronous Pattern (EAP). As with APM, API developers implement EAP for methods that are long-running. Implementing the EAP pattern in its simplest form involves duplicating a long-running method signature and appending “Async” to the method name while removing any outgoing parameters and returns. The “Async” suffix indicates to callers that this version of the method will execute synchronously rather than blocking until the work of the method completes. The elimination of the outgoing parameters is required since the method will not necessarily complete by the time the call concludes. For example, consider the signature of an EAP calling convention string PiCalculator.Calculate(int digits) method: void PiCalculator.CalculateAsync(int digits)

Unlike APM, the EAP model doesn’t require returning an IAsyncResult object. However, support for passing arbitrary state is available to the API implementer through the addition of an object state parameter: void PiCalculator.CalculateAsync(int digits, object state)

or possibly even a generic version void PiCalculator.CalculateAsync(int digits, T state)

With .NET Framework 4, a version that takes a CancellationToken would also be a welcome edition (see Listing 19.20). Exposing an “Async” method allows the caller to begin execution but doesn’t, on its own, allow for monitoring it or using CPS. To do this requires the addition of a completion event and an appropriate EventArgs implementation to pass back the outgoing results (see Listing 19.20).

1. Concurrent Programming on Windows by Joe Duffy (Addison-Wesley, 2009), pages 421–426.


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns Listing 19.20: Event-Based Asynchronous Pattern using using using using

System; System.ComponentModel; System.Threading; System.Threading.Tasks;

partial class PiCalculation { public void CalculateAsync( int digits) { CalculateAsync(digits, null); } public void CalculateAsync( int digits, object userState) { CalculateAsync( digits, default(CancellationToken), userState); } public void CalculateAsync( int digits, CancellationToken cancelToken, TState userState) { if (SynchronizationContext.Current == null) { SynchronizationContext. SetSynchronizationContext( new SynchronizationContext()); } TaskScheduler scheduler = TaskScheduler. FromCurrentSynchronizationContext(); Task<string>.Factory.StartNew( () => { return PiCalculator.Calculate(digits); }, cancelToken) .ContinueWith<string>( continueTask => { CalculateCompleted( typeof(PiCalculator), new CalculateCompletedEventArgs( continueTask.Result, continueTask.Exception, cancelToken. IsCancellationRequested,


Event-Based Asynchronous Pattern (EAP)

803

userState)); return continueTask.Result; }, scheduler); } public event EventHandler CalculateCompleted = delegate { };

public class CalculateCompletedEventArgs : AsyncCompletedEventArgs { public CalculateCompletedEventArgs( string value, Exception error, bool cancelled, object userState) : base( error, cancelled, userState) { Result = value; } public string Result { get; private set; } }

}

In Listing 19.20, this support is provided via the CalculateCompleted event. Registering for this event will allow the caller to receive a notification when the calculation completes. The value of the calculation will be on the Result property of the CalculateCompletedEventArgs class (which derives from AsyncCompletedEventArgs). This same class will allow the caller to check for an error (via the Error property), cancellation (via the Canceled property), and user state (via the UserState property). In the past, cancellation support was available in EAP through the addition of a CancelAsync method, which optionally took an object objectState parameter. However, with .NET Framework 4, using a CancellationToken would be the preferred approach since it would avoid the need to save the state. Frequently with multithreaded operations, not only do you want to be notified when the thread completes, but you also want the method to provide an update on the status of the operation. EAP includes support for


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this by declaring an event of type ProgressChangedEventHandler (or a derivative thereof given support for variance in C# 4.0) and naming the event ProgressChanged. This, however, would push the EAP class into the saving state. To avoid this, developers could also pass a progress listener into the Async method. Here are a couple of final points to note about Listing 19.20. First, PiCalculation is an instance class rather than a static class. Given that the implementation relies on coordinating between events and the initial Async member call, using an instance class lends toward a pattern in which the complexity associated with having multiple invocations and multiple listeners to the same events is avoided. Without the instance approach, for example, it would be suboptimal (synchronization would be required at a minimum) to support a CancelAsync(object state) member because it would be necessary to look up the state–associated invocation. Even worse, progress change notifications (using the standard signature) would be impossible. Second, PiCalculation is thread-safe since it doesn’t store any state information. If support for CancelAsync() or progress monitoring was added such that state was required, care should be taken to keep the thread-safe nature of the class.

Background Worker Pattern Another pattern that provides operation status and the possibility of cancellation is the background worker pattern, a specific implementation of EAP. The .NET Framework 2.0 (or later) includes a BackgroundWorker class for programming this type of pattern. Listing 19.21 is an example of this pattern—again calculating pi to the number of digits specified. Listing 19.21: Using the Background Worker Pattern using using using using

System; System.Threading; System.ComponentModel; System.Text;

public class PiCalculator



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{ public static BackgroundWorker calculationWorker = new BackgroundWorker(); public static AutoResetEvent resetEvent = new AutoResetEvent(false); public static void Main() { int digitCount; Console.Write( "Enter the number of digits to calculate:"); if (int.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), out digitCount)) { Console.WriteLine("ENTER to cancel"); // C# 2.0 Syntax for registering delegates calculationWorker.DoWork += CalculatePi; // Register the ProgressChanged callback calculationWorker.ProgressChanged += UpdateDisplayWithMoreDigits; calculationWorker.WorkerReportsProgress = true; // Register a callback for when the // calculation completes calculationWorker.RunWorkerCompleted += new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler( Complete); calculationWorker. WorkerSupportsCancellation = true; // Begin calculating pi for up to // digitCount digits calculationWorker.RunWorkerAsync( digitCount); Console.ReadLine(); // If cancel is called after the calculation // has completed it doesn't matter. calculationWorker.CancelAsync(); // Wait for Complete() to run. resetEvent.WaitOne(); } else { Console.WriteLine( "The value entered is an invalid integer."); } }


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns private static void CalculatePi( object sender, DoWorkEventArgs eventArgs) { int digits = (int)eventArgs.Argument; StringBuilder pi = new StringBuilder("3.", digits + 2); calculationWorker.ReportProgress( 0, pi.ToString()); // Calculate rest of pi, if required if (digits > 0) { for (int i = 0; i < digits; i += 9) { // Calculate next i decimal places int nextDigit = PiDigitCalculator.StartingAt( i + 1); int digitCount = Math.Min(digits - i, 9); string ds = string.Format("{0:D9}", nextDigit); pi.Append(ds.Substring(0, digitCount)); // Show current progress calculationWorker.ReportProgress( 0, ds.Substring(0, digitCount)); // Check for cancellation if ( calculationWorker.CancellationPending) { // Need to set Cancel if you need to // distinguish how a worker thread // completed // i.e., by checking // RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs.Cancelled eventArgs.Cancel = true; break; } } } eventArgs.Result = pi.ToString(); } private static void UpdateDisplayWithMoreDigits( object sender, ProgressChangedEventArgs eventArgs)



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{ string digits = (string)eventArgs.UserState; Console.Write(digits); }

static void Complete( object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs eventArgs) { // ... } }

public class PiDigitCalculator { // ... }

Establishing the Pattern The process of hooking up the background worker pattern is as follows: 1. Register the long-running method with the BackgroundWorker. DoWork event. In this example, the long-running task is the call to CalculatePi(). 2. To receive progress or status notifications, hook up a listener to BackgroundWorker.ProgressChanged and set BackgroundWorker.WorkerReportsProgress to true. In Listing 19.8, the UpdateDisplayWithMoreDigits() method takes care of updating the display as more digits become available. 3. Register a method (Complete()) with the BackgroundWorker. RunWorkerCompleted event. 4. Assign the WorkerSupportsCancellation property to support cancellation. Once this property is assigned the value true, a call to BackgroundWorker.CancelAsync will set the DoWorkEventArgs.CancellationPending flag. 5. Within the DoWork-provided method (CalculatePi()), check the DoWorkEventArgs.CancellationPending property and exit the method when it is true.


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6. Once everything is set up, you can start the work by calling BackgroundWorker.RunWorkerAsync() and providing a state parameter that is passed to the specified DoWork() method. When you break it into steps, the background worker pattern is relatively easy to follow and, true to EAP, it provides explicit support for progress notification. The drawback is that you cannot use it arbitrarily on any method. Instead, the DoWork() method has to conform to a System.ComponentModel.DoWorkEventHandler delegate, which takes arguments of type object and DoWorkEventArgs. If this isn’t the case, then a wrapper function is required—something fairly trivial using anonymous methods. The cancellation- and progress-related methods also require specific signatures, but these are in control of the programmer setting up the background worker pattern.

Exception Handling If an unhandled exception occurs while the background worker thread is executing, then the RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs parameter of the RunWorkerCompleted delegate (Completed’s eventArgs) will have an Error property set with the exception. As a result, checking the Error property within the RunWorkerCompleted callback in Listing 19.22 provides a means of handling the exception. Listing 19.22: Handling Unhandled Exceptions from the Worker Thread // ... static void Complete( object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs eventArgs) { Console.WriteLine(); if (eventArgs.Cancelled) { Console.WriteLine("Cancelled"); } else if (eventArgs.Error != null) { // IMPORTANT: check error to retrieve any // exceptions. Console.WriteLine( "ERROR: {0}", eventArgs.Error.Message); }



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else { Console.WriteLine("Finished"); } resetEvent.Set(); } // ...

It is important that the code check eventArgs.Error inside the RunWorkerCompleted callback. Otherwise, the exception will go undetected; it won’t even be reported to AppDomain.

Windows UI Programming One more important threading concept relates to user interface development using the System.Windows.Forms and System.Windows namespaces. The Microsoft Windows suite of operating systems uses a single-threaded, message-processing-based user interface. This means that only one thread at a time should access the user interface, and code should marshal any alternate thread interaction via the Windows message pump.

Windows Forms When programming against Windows Forms, the process of checking whether UI invocation is allowable from a thread involves calling a component’s InvokeRequired property to determine whether marshalling is necessary. If InvokeRequired returns true, then marshalling is necessary and can be implemented via a call to Invoke(). Internally, Invoke() will check InvokeRequired anyway, but it can be more efficient to do so beforehand explicitly. Listing 19.23 demonstrates this pattern. Listing 19.23: Accessing the User Interface via Invoke() using using using using

System; System.Drawing; System.Threading; System.Windows.Forms;

class Program : Form { private System.Windows.Forms.ProgressBar _ProgressBar;


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns [STAThread] static void Main() { Application.Run(new Program()); } public Program() { InitializeComponent(); // Prior to TPL use: // ThreadPool.QueueUserWorkItem(state=>Increment()); Task.Factory.StartNew(Increment); } void UpdateProgressBar() { if (_ProgressBar.InvokeRequired) { MethodInvoker updateProgressBar = UpdateProgressBar; _ProgressBar.BeginInvoke(updateProgressBar); } else { _ProgressBar.Increment(1); } } private void Increment() { for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++) { UpdateProgressBar(); Thread.Sleep(100); } if (InvokeRequired) { // Close cannot be called directly from // a non-UI thread. Invoke(new MethodInvoker(Close)); } else { Close(); } } private void InitializeComponent() {



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_ProgressBar = new ProgressBar(); SuspendLayout(); _ProgressBar.Location = new Point(13, 17); _ProgressBar.Size = new Size(267, 19); ClientSize = new Size(292, 53); Controls.Add(this._ProgressBar); Text = "Multithreading in Windows Forms"; ResumeLayout(false); } }

This program displays a window that contains a progress bar that automatically starts incrementing. Once the progress bar reaches 100 percent, the dialog box closes. Notice from Listing 19.23 that you have to check InvokeRequired twice, and then the marshal calls across to the user interface thread if it returns true. In both cases, the marshalling involves instantiating a MethodInvoker delegate that is then passed to Invoke(). Since marshalling across to another thread could be relatively slow, an asynchronous invocation of the call is also available via BeginInvoke() and EndInvoke(). Invoke(), BeginInvoke(), EndInvoke(), and InvokeRequired comprise the members of the System.ComponentModel.ISynchronizeInvoke interface which is implemented by System.Windows.Forms.Control, from which Windows Forms controls derive.

Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) To achieve the same marshalling check on the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) platform involves a slightly different approach. WPF includes a static member property called Current of type DispatcherObject on the System.Windows.Application class. Calling CheckAccess() on the dispatcher serves the same function as InvokeRequired on controls in Windows Forms. Listing 19.24 demonstrates the approach with a static UIAction object. Anytime a developer wants to call a method that might interact with the user interface she simply calls UIAction.Invoke() and passes a delegate for the UI code she wishes to call. This, in turn, checks the dispatcher to see if marshalling is necessary and then responds accordingly.


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Chapter 19: Synchronization and More Multithreading Patterns Listing 19.24: Safely Invoking User Interface Objects using System; using System.Windows; using System.Windows.Threading; public static class UIAction { public static void Invoke( Action action, T parameter) { Invoke(() => action(parameter)); } public static void Invoke(Action action) { DispatcherObject dispatcher = Application.Current; if (dispatcher == null || dispatcher.CheckAccess() || dispatcher.Dispatcher == null ) { action(); } else { SafeInvoke(action); } } // We want to catch all exceptions here // so we can rethrow private static void SafeInvoke(Action action) { Exception exceptionThrown = null; Action target = () => { try { action(); } catch (Exception exception) { exceptionThrown = exception; } }; Application.Current.Dispatcher.Invoke(target); if (exceptionThrown != null) { throw exceptionThrown;



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} } }

One additional feature in the UIAction of Listing 19.24 is the “marshalling” of any exceptions on the UI thread that may have occurred. SafeInvoke() wraps all requested delegate calls in a try/catch block and, if an exception is thrown, it saves the exception off and then rethrows it once context returns back to the calling thread. In this way, UIAction avoids throwing unhandled exceptions on the UI thread.

ADVANCED TOPIC Controlling the COM Threading Model with the STAThreadAttribute With COM, four different apartment-threading models determine the threading rules relating to calls between COM objects. Fortunately, these rules—and the complexity that accompanied them—have disappeared from .NET as long as the program invokes no COM components. The general approach to handling COM Interop is to place all .NET components within the main, single-threaded apartment by decorating a process’s Main method with the System.STAThreadAttribute. In so doing, it is not necessary to cross apartment boundaries to invoke the majority of COM components. Furthermore, apartment initialization does not occur, unless a COM Interop call is made. The caveat to this approach is that all other threads (including those of Task) will default to using a Multithreaded Apartment (MTA). The result is that care needs to be taken when invoking COM components from other threads besides the main one. COM Interop is not necessarily an explicit action by the developer. Microsoft implemented many of the components within the .NET Framework by creating a runtime callable wrapper (RCW) rather than rewriting all the COM functionality within managed code. As a result, COM calls are often made unknowingly. To ensure that these calls are always made from a single-threaded apartment, it is generally a good practice to decorate the main method of all Windows Forms executables with the System .STAThreadAttribute.


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SUMMARY We began the chapter with a look at various synchronization mechanisms and how a variety of classes are available to protect against race conditions. Armed with this knowledge, we were able to delve further into a variety of additional multithreading patterns, including the following: • Asynchronous Programming Model (APM): generally exposed by

low-level libraries as a way to call long-running methods asynchronously. • Event-Based Asynchronous Patter (EAP): like EAP, but for higher-level

programming. EAP exposes an API for asynchronous programming that includes support for cancel and progress notifications. • Background Worker Pattern: An API provided by the BackgroundWorker class that allows callers to impose an asynchronous pattern

onto a long-running method even if designers implemented no such pattern. Given the multitude of patterns available in addition to those provided by TPL, it can be somewhat puzzling to know which one to choose. Generally, it is better to choose an API-provided pattern (APM or EAP, for example) rather than using TPL to execute a method asynchronously. However, in the case of EAP, TPL provides calling support that takes advantage of EAP, so it is advisable to use the combination if TPL is available. The choice to use the background worker pattern rather than TPL is a little subtler. Developer preference would be an acceptable determinant as long as BackgroundWorker provides everything you need. As soon as you require additional functionality, TPL is better-suited, however. Also, consider using TPL if all registered listeners (to cancel, progress, and completion) are made through careful use of anonymous methods and closures as TPL would likely prove easier to maintain. However, if this is not the case, consider using BackgroundWorker instead as you can easily register members without relying on closure. The next chapter investigates another complex .NET technology: that of marshalling calls out of .NET and into managed code using P/Invoke. In addition, it introduces a concept known as unsafe code, which C# uses to access memory pointers directly, as in unmanaged code (for example, C++).


20 Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code

C#

HAS GREAT CAPABILITIES,

but sometimes it still isn’t sufficient and you need to escape out of all the safety it provides and step back into the world of memory addresses and pointers. C# supports this in three ways. The first way is to go through Platform Invoke (P/Invoke) and calls into APIs exposed by unmanaged DLLs. The second is through unsafe code, which enables access to memory pointers and addresses. Frequently, code uses these features in combination. The third way, which is not covered in this text, is through COM interoperability.

1

P/Invoke

Declaring SafeHandle Calling

Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code

Unsafe Code Pointer Declaration Dereferencing a Pointer

2

Pointers and Addresses

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Chapter 20: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code

This chapter culminates with a small program that determines whether the computer is a virtual computer. The code requires that you do the following. 1. Call into an operating system DLL and request allocation of a portion of memory for executing instructions. 2. Write some assembler instructions into the allocated area. 3. Inject an address location into the assembler instructions. 4. Execute the assembler code. Aside from the P/Invoke and unsafe constructs covered here, the final listing demonstrates the full power of C# and the fact that the capabilities of unmanaged code are still accessible from C# and managed code.

BEGINNER TOPIC What Is a Virtual Computer? A virtual computer (or virtual machine), also called a guest computer, is virtualized or emulated through software running on the host operating system and interacting with the host computer’s hardware. For example, virtual computer software (such as VMware Workstation and Microsoft Virtual PC) can be installed on a computer running a recent version of Windows. Once the software is installed, users can configure a guest computer within the software, boot it, and install an operating system as though it were a real computer, not just one virtualized with software.

Platform Invoke Whether a developer is trying to call a library of her existing unmanaged code, accessing unmanaged code in the operating system not exposed in any managed API, or trying to achieve maximum performance for a particular algorithm that performs faster by avoiding the runtime overhead of type checking and garbage collection, at some point she must call into unmanaged code. The CLI provides this capability through P/Invoke. With P/Invoke, you can make API calls into exported functions of unmanaged DLLs.


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All of the APIs invoked in this section are Windows APIs. Although the same APIs are not available on other platforms, developers can still use P/Invoke for APIs native to their platform, or for calls into their own DLLs. The guidelines and syntax are the same.

Declaring External Functions Once the target function is identified, the next step of P/Invoke is to declare the function with managed code. Just like all regular methods that belong to a class, you need to declare the targeted API within the context of a class, but by using the extern modifier. Listing 20.1 demonstrates how to do this. Listing 20.1: Declaring an External Method using System; using System.Runtime.InteropServices; class VirtualMemoryManager { [DllImport("kernel32.dll", EntryPoint="GetCurrentProcess")] internal static extern IntPtr GetCurrentProcessHandle(); }

In this case, the class is VirtualMemoryManager, because it will contain functions associated with managing memory. (This particular function is available directly off the System.Diagnostics.Processor class, so there is no need to declare it in real code.) extern methods are always static and don’t include any implementation. Instead, the DllImport attribute, which accompanies the method declaration, points to the implementation. At a minimum, the attribute needs the name of the DLL that defines the function. The runtime determines the function name from the method name. However, it is possible to override this default using the EntryPoint named parameter to provide the function name. (The .NET platform will automatically attempt calls to the Unicode [. . .W] or ASCII [. . .A] API version.) It this case, the external function, GetCurrentProcess(), retrieves a pseudohandle for the current process which you will use in the call for virtual memory allocation. Here’s the unmanaged declaration: HANDLE GetCurrentProcess();


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Parameter Data Types Assuming the developer has identified the targeted DLL and exported function, the most difficult step is identifying or creating the managed data types that correspond to the unmanaged types in the external function.1 Listing 20.2 shows a more difficult API. Listing 20.2: The VirtualAllocEx() API LPVOID VirtualAllocEx( HANDLE hProcess,

LPVOID lpAddress,

SIZE_T dwSize,

DWORD flAllocationType, DWORD flProtect);

// // // // // // // // // // // // // // // //

The handle to a process. The function allocates memory within the virtual address space of this process. The pointer that specifies a desired starting address for the region of pages that you want to allocate. If lpAddress is NULL, the function determines where to allocate the region. The size of the region of memory to allocate, in bytes. If lpAddress is NULL, the function rounds dwSize up to the next page boundary. The type of memory allocation. The type of memory allocation.

VirtualAllocEx() allocates virtual memory that the operating system

specifically designates for execution or data. To call it, you also need corresponding definitions in managed code for each data type; although common in Win32 programming, HANDLE, LPVOID, SIZE_T, and DWORD are undefined in the CLI managed code. The declaration in C# for VirtualAllocEx(), therefore, is shown in Listing 20.3. Listing 20.3: Declaring the VirtualAllocEx() API in C# using System; using System.Runtime.InteropServices; class VirtualMemoryManager { [DllImport("kernel32.dll")] internal static extern IntPtr GetCurrentProcess();

1. One particularly helpful resource for declaring Win32 APIs is www.pinvoke.net. This provides a great starting point for many APIs, helping to avoid some of the subtle problems that can arise when coding an external API call from scratch.


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[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)] private static extern IntPtr VirtualAllocEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize, AllocationType flAllocationType, uint flProtect); }

One distinct characteristic of managed code is the fact that primitive data types such as int do not change size based on the processor. Whether the processor is 16, 32, or 64 bits, int is always 32 bits. In unmanaged code, however, memory pointers will vary depending on the processor. Therefore, instead of mapping types such as HANDLE and LPVOID simply to ints, you need to map to System.IntPtr, whose size will vary depending on the processor memory layout. This example also uses an AllocationType enum, which I discuss in the section Simplifying API Calls with Wrappers, later in this chapter. An interesting point to note about Listing 20.3 is that IntPtr is not just useful for pointers; it is also useful for other things such as quantities. IntPtr does not just mean “pointer stored in an integer”; it also means “integer that is the size of a pointer.” An IntPtr need not contain a pointer; it just needs to contain something the size of a pointer. Lots of things are the size of a pointer but are nevertheless not pointers.

Using ref Rather Than Pointers Frequently, unmanaged code uses pointers for pass-by-reference parameters. In these cases, P/Invoke doesn’t require that you map the data type to a pointer in managed code. Instead, you map the corresponding parameters to ref (or out), depending on whether the parameter is in-out or just out. In Listing 20.4, lpflOldProtect, whose data type is PDWORD, is an example that returns the “pointer to a variable that receives the previous access protection of the first page in the specified region of pages.” Listing 20.4: Using ref and out Rather Than Pointers class VirtualMemoryManager { // ... [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]


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Chapter 20: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code static extern bool VirtualProtectEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize, uint flNewProtect, ref uint lpflOldProtect); }

In spite of the fact that lpflOldProtect is documented as [out] (even though the signature doesn’t enforce it), the description goes on to mention that the parameter must point to a valid variable and not NULL. The inconsistency is confusing, but common. The guideline is to use ref rather than out for P/Invoke type parameters since the callee can always ignore the data passed with ref, but the converse will not necessarily succeed. The other parameters are virtually the same as VirtualAllocEx(), except that the lpAddress is the address returned from VirtualAllocEx(). In addition, flNewProtect specifies the exact type of memory protection: page execute, page read-only, and so on.

Using StructLayoutAttribute for Sequential Layout Some APIs involve types that have no corresponding managed type. To call these requires redeclaration of the type in managed code. You declare the unmanaged COLORREF struct, for example, in managed code (see Listing 20.5). Listing 20.5: Declaring Types from Unmanaged Structs [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)] struct ColorRef { public byte Red; public byte Green; public byte Blue; // Turn off warning about not accessing Unused. #pragma warning disable 414 private byte Unused; #pragma warning restore 414 public ColorRef(byte red, byte green, byte blue) { Blue = blue; Green = green; Red = red; Unused = 0; } }


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Various Microsoft Windows color APIs use COLORREF to represent RGB colors (levels of red, green, and blue). The key in this declaration is StructLayoutAttribute. By default, managed code can optimize the memory layouts of types, so layouts may not be sequential from one field to the next. To force sequential layouts so that a type maps directly and can be copied bit for bit (blitted) from managed to unmanaged code and vice versa, you add the StructLayoutAttribute with the LayoutKind.Sequential enum value. (This is also useful when writing data to and from filestreams where a sequential layout may be expected.) Since the unmanaged (C++) definition for struct does not map to the C# definition, there is not a direct mapping of unmanaged struct to managed struct. Instead, developers should follow the usual C# guidelines about whether the type should behave like a value or a reference type, and whether the size is small (approximately less than 16 bytes).

Error Handling One inconvenient characteristic of Win32 API programming is the fact that it frequently reports errors in inconsistent ways. For example, some APIs return a value (0, 1, false, and so on) to indicate an error, and others set an out parameter in some way. Furthermore, the details of what went wrong require additional calls to the GetLastError() API and then an additional call to FormatMessage() to retrieve an error message corresponding to the error. In summary, Win32 error reporting in unmanaged code seldom occurs via exceptions. Fortunately, the P/Invoke designers provided a mechanism for handling this. To enable this, given the SetLastError named parameter of the DllImport attribute is true, it is possible to instantiate a System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception() that is automatically initialized with the Win32 error data immediately following the P/Invoke call (see Listing 20.6). Listing 20.6: Win32 Error Handling class VirtualMemoryManager { [DllImport("kernel32.dll", ", SetLastError = true)] private static extern IntPtr VirtualAllocEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize,


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Chapter 20: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code AllocationType flAllocationType, uint flProtect); // ... [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)] static extern bool VirtualProtectEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize, uint flNewProtect, ref uint lpflOldProtect); [Flags] private enum AllocationType : uint { // ... } [Flags] private enum ProtectionOptions { // ... } [Flags] private enum MemoryFreeType { // ... } public static IntPtr AllocExecutionBlock( int size, IntPtr hProcess) { IntPtr codeBytesPtr; codeBytesPtr = VirtualAllocEx( hProcess, IntPtr.Zero, (IntPtr)size, AllocationType.Reserve | AllocationType.Commit, (uint)ProtectionOptions.PageExecuteReadWrite); if (codeBytesPtr == IntPtr.Zero) { throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(); } uint lpflOldProtect = 0; if (!VirtualProtectEx( hProcess, codeBytesPtr, (IntPtr)size, (uint)ProtectionOptions.PageExecuteReadWrite, ref lpflOldProtect)) { throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception();


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} return codeBytesPtr; } public static IntPtr AllocExecutionBlock(int size) { return AllocExecutionBlock( size, GetCurrentProcessHandle()); } }

This enables developers to provide the custom error checking that each API uses while still reporting the error in a standard manner. Listing 20.1 and Listing 20.3 declared the P/Invoke methods as internal or private. Except for the simplest of APIs, wrapping methods in public wrappers that reduce the complexity of the P/Invoke API calls is a good guideline that increases API usability and moves toward object-oriented type structure. The AllocExecutionBlock() declaration in Listing 20.6 provides a good example of this.

Using SafeHandle Frequently, P/Invoke involves a resource, such as a window handle, that code needs to clean up after using it. Instead of requiring developers to remember this and manually code it each time, it is helpful to provide a class that implements IDisposable and a finalizer. In Listing 20.7, for example, the address returned after VirtualAllocEx() and VirtualProtectEx() requires a follow-up call to VirtualFreeEx(). To provide builtin support for this, you define a VirtualMemoryPtr class that derives from System.Runtime.InteropServices.SafeHandle (this is new in .NET 2.0). Listing 20.7: Managed Resources Using SafeHandle public class VirtualMemoryPtr : System.Runtime.InteropServices.SafeHandle { public VirtualMemoryPtr(int memorySize) : base(IntPtr.Zero, true) { ProcessHandle = VirtualMemoryManager.GetCurrentProcessHandle(); MemorySize = (IntPtr)memorySize;


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Chapter 20: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code AllocatedPointer = VirtualMemoryManager.AllocExecutionBlock( memorySize, ProcessHandle); Disposed = false; } public readonly IntPtr AllocatedPointer; readonly IntPtr ProcessHandle; readonly IntPtr MemorySize; bool Disposed; public static implicit operator IntPtr( VirtualMemoryPtr virtualMemoryPointer) { return virtualMemoryPointer.AllocatedPointer; } // SafeHandle abstract member public override bool IsInvalid { get { return Disposed; } } // SafeHandle abstract member protected override bool ReleaseHandle() { if (!Disposed) { Disposed = true; GC.SuppressFinalize(this); VirtualMemoryManager.VirtualFreeEx(ProcessHandle, AllocatedPointer, MemorySize); } return true; } }

System.Runtime.InteropServices.SafeHandle includes the abstract

members IsInvalid and ReleaseHandle(). In the latter, you place your cleanup code; the former indicates whether the cleanup code has executed yet. With VirtualMemoryPtr, you can allocate memory simply by instantiating the type and specifying the needed memory allocation.


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ADVANCED TOPIC Using IDisposable Explicitly in Place of SafeHandle In C# 1.0, System.Runtime.InteropServices.SafeHandle is not available. Instead, a custom implementation of IDisposable, as shown in Listing 20.8, is necessary. Listing 20.8: Managed Resources without SafeHandle but Using IDisposable public struct VirtualMemoryPtr : IDisposable { public VirtualMemoryPtr(int memorySize) { ProcessHandle = VirtualMemoryManager.GetCurrentProcessHandle(); MemorySize = (IntPtr)memorySize; AllocatedPointer = VirtualMemoryManager.AllocExecutionBlock( memorySize, ProcessHandle); Disposed = false; } public readonly IntPtr AllocatedPointer; readonly IntPtr ProcessHandle; readonly IntPtr MemorySize; bool Disposed; public static implicit operator IntPtr( VirtualMemoryPtr virtualMemoryPointer) { return virtualMemoryPointer.AllocatedPointer; } #region IDisposable Members public void Dispose() { if (!Disposed) { Disposed = true; GC.SuppressFinalize(this); VirtualMemoryManager.VirtualFreeEx(ProcessHandle, AllocatedPointer, MemorySize); } } #endregion }


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In order for VirtualMemoryPtr to behave with value type semantics, you need to implement it as a struct. However, the consequence of this is that there can be no finalizer, since the garbage collector does not manage value types. This means the developer using the type must remember to clean up the code. There is no fallback mechanism if he doesn’t. The second restriction is not to pass or copy the instance outside the method. This is a common guideline of IDisposable implementing types. Their scope should be left within a using statement and they should not be passed as parameters to other methods that could potentially save them beyond the life of the using scope.

Calling External Functions Once you declare the P/Invoke functions, you invoke them just as you would any other class member. The key, however, is that the imported DLL must be in the path, including the executable directory, so that it can be successfully loaded. Listing 20.6 and Listing 20.7 provide demonstrations of this. However, they rely on some constants. Since flAllocationType and flProtect are flags, it is a good practice to provide constants or enums for each. Instead of expecting the caller to define these, encapsulation suggests you provide them as part of the API declaration, as shown in Listing 20.9. Listing 20.9: Encapsulating the APIs Together class VirtualMemoryManager { // ... /// <summary> /// The type of memory allocation. This parameter must /// contain one of the following values. /// [Flags] private enum AllocationType : uint { /// <summary> /// Allocates physical storage in memory or in the /// paging file on disk for the specified reserved /// memory pages. The function initializes the memory /// to zero. ///


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Commit = 0x1000, /// <summary> /// Reserves a range of the process's virtual address /// space without allocating any actual physical /// storage in memory or in the paging file on disk. /// Reserve = 0x2000, /// <summary> /// Indicates that data in the memory range specified by /// lpAddress and dwSize is no longer of interest. The /// pages should not be read from or written to the /// paging file. However, the memory block will be used /// again later, so it should not be decommitted. This /// value cannot be used with any other value. /// Reset = 0x80000, /// <summary> /// Allocates physical memory with read-write access. /// This value is solely for use with Address Windowing /// Extensions (AWE) memory. /// Physical = 0x400000, /// <summary> /// Allocates memory at the highest possible address. /// TopDown = 0x100000, } /// <summary> /// The memory protection for the region of pages to be /// allocated. /// [Flags] private enum ProtectionOptions : uint { /// <summary> /// Enables execute access to the committed region of /// pages. An attempt to read or write to the committed /// region results in an access violation. /// Execute = 0x10, /// <summary> /// Enables execute and read access to the committed /// region of pages. An attempt to write to the /// committed region results in an access violation. /// PageExecuteRead = 0x20, /// <summary> /// Enables execute, read, and write access to the /// committed region of pages.


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Chapter 20: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code /// PageExecuteReadWrite = 0x40, // ... } /// <summary> /// The type of free operation /// [Flags] private enum MemoryFreeType : uint { /// <summary> /// Decommits the specified region of committed pages. /// After the operation, the pages are in the reserved /// state. /// Decommit = 0x4000, /// <summary> /// Releases the specified region of pages. After this /// operation, the pages are in the free state. /// Release = 0x8000 } // ... }

The advantage of enums is that they group together each value. Furthermore, they can limit the scope to nothing else besides these values.

Simplifying API Calls with Wrappers Whether it is error handling, structs, or constant values, one goal of good API developers is to provide a simplified managed API that wraps the underlying Win32 API. For example, Listing 20.10 overloads VirtualFreeEx() with public versions that simplify the call. Listing 20.10: Wrapping the Underlying API class VirtualMemoryManager { // ... [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)] static extern bool VirtualFreeEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize, IntPtr dwFreeType);


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public static bool VirtualFreeEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize) { bool result = VirtualFreeEx( hProcess, lpAddress, dwSize, (IntPtr)MemoryFreeType.Decommit); if (!result) { throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(); } return result; } public static bool VirtualFreeEx( IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize) { return VirtualFreeEx( GetCurrentProcessHandle(), lpAddress, dwSize); } [DllImport("kernel32", SetLastError = true)] static extern IntPtr VirtualAllocEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize, AllocationType flAllocationType, uint flProtect); // ... }

Function Pointers Map to Delegates One last P/Invoke key is that function pointers in unmanaged code map to delegates in managed code. To set up a Microsoft Windows timer, for example, you would provide a function pointer that the timer could call back on, once it had expired. Specifically, you would pass a delegate instance that matched the signature of the callback. Guidelines Given the idiosyncrasies of P/Invoke, there are several guidelines to aid in the process of writing such code. • Check that no managed classes already expose the APIs. • Define API external methods as private or, in simple cases, internal.


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Chapter 20: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code • Provide public wrapper methods around the external methods that

handle the data type conversions and error handling. • Overload the wrapper methods and provide a reduced number of

required parameters by inserting defaults for the extern method call. • Use enum or const to provide constant values for the API as part of the

API’s declaration. • For all P/Invoke methods that support GetLastError(), be sure to

assign the SetLastError named attribute to true. This allows the reporting of errors via System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception. • Wrap resources such as handles into classes that derive from System.Runtime.InteropServices.SafeHandle or that support IDisposable. • Function pointers in unmanaged code map to delegate instances in

managed code. Generally, this requires the declaration of a specific delegate type that matches the signature of the unmanaged function pointer. • Map input/output and output parameters to ref parameters instead

of relying on pointers. The last bullet implies C#’s support for pointers, described in the next section.

Pointers and Addresses On occasion, developers will want to be able to access and work with memory, and with pointers to memory locations, directly. This is necessary for certain operating system interaction as well as with certain types of time-critical algorithms. To support this, C# requires use of the unsafe code construct.

Unsafe Code One of C#’s great features is the fact that it is strongly typed and supports type checking throughout the runtime execution. What makes this feature especially great is that it is possible to circumvent this support and manipulate memory and addresses directly. You would do this when working with things such as memory-mapped devices, or if you wanted



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to implement time-critical algorithms. The key is to designate a portion of the code as unsafe. Unsafe code is an explicit code block and compilation option, as shown in Listing 20.11. The unsafe modifier has no effect on the generated CIL code itself. It is only a directive to the compiler to permit pointer and address manipulation within the unsafe block. Furthermore, unsafe does not imply unmanaged. Listing 20.11: Designating a Method for Unsafe Code class Program { unsafe static int Main(string[] args) { // ... } }

You can use unsafe as a modifier to the type or to specific members within the type. In addition, C# allows unsafe as a statement that flags a code block to allow unsafe code (see Listing 20.12). Listing 20.12: Designating a Code Block for Unsafe Code class Program { static int Main(string[] args) { unsafe { // ... } } }

Code within the unsafe block can include unsafe constructs such as pointers.

NOTE It is important to note that it is necessary to explicitly indicate to the compiler that unsafe code is supported.


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From the command line, this requires the /unsafe switch. For example, to compile the preceding code, you need to use the command shown in Output 20.1. OUTPUT 20.1: csc.exe /unsafe Program.cs

With Visual Studio this may be activated by checking the Allow Unsafe Code checkbox from the Build tab of the Project Properties window. You need to use the /unsafe switch because unsafe code opens up the possibility of buffer overflows and similar possibilities that expose the potential for security holes. The /unsafe switch includes the ability to directly manipulate memory and execute instructions that are unmanaged. Requiring /unsafe, therefore, makes the choice of potential exposure explicit.

Pointer Declaration Now that you have marked a code block as unsafe, it is time to look at how to write unsafe code. First, unsafe code allows the declaration of a pointer. Consider the following example: byte* pData;

Assuming pData is not null, its value points to a location that contains one or more sequential bytes; the value of pData represents the memory address of the bytes. The type specified before the * is the referent type, or the type located where the value of the pointer refers. In this example, pData is the pointer and byte is the referent type, as shown in Figure 20.1.

byte* pData

byte[] data

0x0338EE9C ... ... 0x18 0x42

–0x0338EE98

–0x0338EE9C

Figure 20.1: Pointers Contain the Address of the Data



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Because pointers are simply integers that happen to refer to a memory address, they are not subject to garbage collection. C# does not allow referent types other than unmanaged types, which are types that are not reference types, are not generics, and do not contain reference types. Therefore, the following is not valid: string* pMessage

Neither is this: ServiceStatus* pStatus

where ServiceStatus is defined as shown in Listing 20.13; the problem again is that ServiceStatus includes a string field. Listing 20.13: Invalid Referent Type Example struct ServiceStatus { int State; string Description; }

// Description is a reference type

In addition to custom structs that contain only unmanaged types, valid referent types include enums, predefined value types (sbyte, byte, short, ushort, int, uint, long, ulong, char, float, double, decimal, and bool), and pointer types (such as byte**). Lastly, valid syntax includes void* pointers, which represent pointers to an unknown type.

Language Contrast: C/C++—Pointer Declaration In C/C++, multiple pointers within the same declaration are declared as follows: int *p1, *p2;

Notice the * on p2; this makes p2 an int* rather than an int. In contrast, C# always places the * with the data type: int* p1, p2;


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The result is two variables of type int*. The syntax matches that of declaring multiple arrays in a single statement: int[] array1, array2;

Pointers are an entirely new category of type. Unlike structs, enums, and classes, pointers don’t ultimately derive from System.Object and are not even convertible to System.Object. Instead, they are convertible to System.IntPtr (which does convert to System.Object).

Assigning a Pointer Once code defines a pointer, it needs to assign a value before accessing it. Just like reference types, pointers can hold the value null; this is their default value. The value stored by the pointer is the address of a location. Therefore, in order to assign it, you must first retrieve the address of the data. You could explicitly cast an integer or a long into a pointer, but this rarely occurs without a means of determining the address of a particular data value at execution time. Instead, you need to use the address operator (&) to retrieve the address of the value type: byte* pData = &bytes[0];

// Compile error

The problem is that in a managed environment, data can move, thereby invalidating the address. The error message is “You can only take the address of [an] unfixed expression inside a fixed statement initializer.” In this case, the byte referenced appears within an array and an array is a reference type (a moveable type). Reference types appear on the heap and are subject to garbage collection or relocation. A similar problem occurs when referring to a value type field on a moveable type: int* a = &"message".Length;

Either way, to assign an address of some data requires the following. • The data must be classified as a variable. • The data must be an unmanaged type. • The variable needs to be classified as fixed, not moveable.



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If the data is an unmanaged variable type but is not fixed, then use the fixed statement to fix a moveable variable. Fixing Data

To retrieve the address of a moveable data item, it is necessary to fix, or pin, the data, as demonstrated in Listing 20.14. Listing 20.14: Fixed Statement byte[] bytes = new byte[24]; fixed (byte* pData = &bytes[0]) { // ... }

// pData = bytes also allowed

Within the code block of a fixed statement, the assigned data will not move. In this example, bytes will remain at the same address, at least until the end of the fixed statement. The fixed statement requires the declaration of the pointer variable within its scope. This avoids accessing the variable outside the fixed statement, when the data is no longer fixed. However, it is the programmer’s responsibility to ensure that he doesn’t assign the pointer to another variable that survives beyond the scope of the fixed statement—possibly in an API call, for example. Similarly, using ref or out parameters will be problematic for data that will not survive beyond the method call. Since a string is an invalid referent type, it would appear invalid to define pointers to strings. However, as in C++, internally a string is a pointer to the first character of an array of characters, and it is possible to declare pointers to characters using char*. Therefore, C# allows declaring a pointer of type char* and assigning it to a string within a fixed statement. The fixed statement prevents the movement of the string during the life of the pointer. Similarly, it allows any moveable type that supports an implicit conversion to a pointer of another type, given a fixed statement. You can replace the verbose assignment of &bytes[0] with the abbreviated bytes, as shown in Listing 20.15.


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Chapter 20: Platform Interoperability and Unsafe Code Listing 20.15: Fixed Statement without Address or Array Indexer byte[] bytes = new byte[24]; fixed (byte* pData = bytes) { // ... }

Depending on the frequency and time to execute, fixed statements have the potential to cause fragmentation in the heap because the garbage collector cannot compact fixed objects. To reduce this problem, the best practice is to pin blocks early in the execution and to pin fewer large blocks rather than many small blocks. Unfortunately, this has to be tempered with pinning as little as possible for as short a time as possible, to minimize the chance that a collection will happen during the time that the data is pinned. To some extent, .NET 2.0 reduces the problem, due to some additional fragmentation-aware code. Allocating on the Stack

You should use the fixed statement on an array to prevent the garbage collector from moving the data. However, an alternative is to allocate the array on the call stack. Stack allocated data is not subject to garbage collection or to the finalizer patterns that accompany it. Like referent types, the requirement is that the stackalloc data is an array of unmanaged types. For example, instead of allocating an array of bytes on the heap, you can place it onto the call stack, as shown in Listing 20.16. Listing 20.16: Allocating Data on the Call Stack byte* bytes = stackalloc byte[42];}

Because the data type is an array of unmanaged types, it is possible for the runtime to allocate a fixed buffer size for the array and then to restore that buffer once the pointer goes out of scope. Specifically, it allocates sizeof(T) * E, where E is the array size and T is the referent type. Given the requirement of using stackalloc only on an array of unmanaged types, the runtime restores the buffer back to the system simply by unwinding the stack, eliminating the complexities of iterating over the f-reachable queue (see Garbage Collection and Finalization in Chapter 9) and compacting reachable data. Therefore, there is no way to explicitly free stackalloc data.



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Note that the stack is a precious resource and, although small, running out of stack space will result in a program crashing; every effort should be taken to avoid running out. If a program does run out of stack space, the best thing that can happen is for the program to shut down/crash immediately. Generally, programs have less than 1MB of stack space (possibly a lot less). Therefore, take great care to avoid allocating arbitrarily sized buffers on the stack.

Dereferencing a Pointer Accessing the data stored in a variable of a type referred to by a pointer requires that you dereference the pointer, placing the indirection operator prior to the expression. byte data = *pData;, for example, dereferences the location of the byte referred to by pData and returns the single byte at that location. Using this principle in unsafe code allows the unorthodox behavior of modifying the “immutable” string, as shown in Listing 20.17. In no way is this recommended, but it does expose the potential of low-level memory manipulation. Listing 20.17: Modifying an Immutable String string text = "S5280ft"; Console.Write("{0} = ", text); unsafe // Requires /unsafe switch. { fixed (char* pText = text) { char* p = pText; *++p = 'm'; *++p = 'i'; *++p = 'l'; *++p = 'e'; *++p = ' '; *++p = ' '; } } Console.WriteLine(text);

The results of Listing 20.17 appear in Output 20.2. OUTPUT 20.2: S5280ft = Smile


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In this case, you take the original address and increment it by the size of the referent type (sizeof(char)), using the preincrement operator. Next, you dereference the address using the indirection operator and then assign the location with a different character. Similarly, using the + and – operators on a pointer changes the address by the * sizeof(T) operand, where T is the referent type. Similarly, the comparison operators (==, !=, , ) work to compare pointers translating effectively to the comparison of address location values. One restriction on the dereferencing operator is the inability to dereference a void*. The void* data type represents a pointer to an unknown type. Since the data type is unknown, it can’t be dereferenced to another type. Instead, to access the data referenced by a void*, you must convert it to any other pointer type variable and then dereference the later type, for example. You can achieve the same behavior as Listing 20.17 by using the index operator rather than the indirection operator (see Listing 20.18). Listing 20.18: Modifying an Immutable with the Index Operator in Unsafe Code string text; text = "S5280ft"; Console.Write("{0} = ", text); Unsafe // Requires /unsafe switch. { fixed (char* pText = text) { pText[1] = 'm'; pText[2] = 'i'; pText[3] = 'l'; pText[4] = 'e'; pText[5] = ' '; pText[6] = ' '; } } Console.WriteLine(text);

The results of Listing 20.18 appear in Output 20.3. OUTPUT 20.3: S5280ft = Smile


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Modifications such as those in Listing 20.17 and Listing 20.18 lead to unexpected behavior. For example, if you reassigned text to "S5280ft" following the Console.WriteLine() statement and then redisplayed text, the output would still be Smile because the address of two equal string literals is optimized to one string literal referenced by both variables. In spite of the apparent assignment text = "S5280ft";

after the unsafe code in Listing 20.17, the internals of the string assignment are an address assignment of the modified "S5280ft" location, so text is never set to the intended value.

Accessing the Member of a Referent Type Dereferencing a pointer makes it possible for code to access the members of the referent type. However, this is possible without the indirection operator (&). As Listing 20.19 shows, it is possible to directly access a referent type’s members using the -> operator (that is, a->b is shorthand for (*a).b). Listing 20.19: Directly Accessing a Referent Type’s Members unsafe { Angle angle = new Angle(30, 18, 0); Angle* pAngle = ∠ System.Console.WriteLine("{0}° {1}' {2}\"", pAngle->Hours, pAngle->Minutes, pAngle->Seconds); }

The results of Listing 20.19 appear in Output 20.4. OUTPUT 20.4: 30° 18' 0

SUMMARY This chapter’s introduction outlined the low-level access to the underlying operating system that C# exposes. To summarize this, consider the Main()


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function listing for determining whether execution is with a virtual computer (see Listing 20.20). Listing 20.20: Designating a Block for Unsafe Code using System.Runtime.InteropServices; class Program { unsafe static int Main(string[] { // Assign redpill byte[] redpill = { 0x0f, 0x01, 0x0d, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xc3};

args)

// asm SIDT instruction // placeholder for an address // asm return instruction

unsafe { fixed (byte* matrix = new byte[6], redpillPtr = redpill) { // Move the address of matrix immediately // following the SIDT instruction of memory. *(uint*)&redpillPtr[3] = (uint)&matrix[0]; using (VirtualMemoryPtr codeBytesPtr = new VirtualMemoryPtr(redpill.Length)) { Marshal.Copy( redpill, 0, codeBytesPtr, redpill.Length); MethodInvoker method = (MethodInvoker)Marshal.GetDelegateForFunctionPointer( codeBytesPtr, typeof(MethodInvoker)); method(); } if (matrix[5] > 0xd0) { Console.WriteLine("Inside Matrix!\n"); return 1; } else { Console.WriteLine("Not in Matrix.\n"); return 0; }


Summary

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} // fixed } // unsafe } }

The results of Listing 20.20 appear in Output 20.5. OUTPUT 20.5: Inside Matrix!

In this case, you use a delegate to trigger execution of the assembler code. The delegate is declared as follows: delegate void MethodInvoker();

This book has demonstrated the power, flexibility, consistency, and fantastic structure of C#. This chapter demonstrated the ability, in spite of such high-level programming capabilities, to perform very low-level operations as well. Before I end the book, the next chapter briefly describes the underlying execution platform and shifts the focus from the C# language to the broader platform in which C# programs execute.




21 The Common Language Infrastructure

O

that C# programmers encounter beyond the syntax is the context under which a C# program executes. This chapter discusses the underpinnings of how C# handles memory allocation and deallocation, type checking, interoperability with other languages, crossplatform execution, and support for programming metadata. In other words, this chapter investigates the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) on which C# relies both at compile time and during execution. It covers the execution engine that governs a C# program at runtime and how C# fits into a broader set of languages that are governed by the same execution NE OF THE FIRST ITEMS

Base Class Library

Metadata Application Domains

5

Components

1

What Is the CLI?

Assemblies

Common Language Specification Common Type System

Manifests

Common Intermediate Language

Modules

Common Language Infrastructure

2

CLI Implementations

Garbage Collection Type Safety

4

Runtime

3

C# Compilation

Code Access Security Platform Portability Performance

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Chapter 21: The Common Language Infrastructure

engine. Because of C#’s close ties with this infrastructure, most of the features that come with the infrastructure are made available to C#.

Defining the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) Instead of generating instructions that a processor can interpret directly, the C# compiler generates instructions in an intermediate language, the Common Intermediate Language (CIL). A second compilation step occurs, generally at execution time, converting the CIL to machine code that the processor can understand. Conversion to machine code is still not sufficient for code execution, however. It is also necessary for a C# program to execute under the context of an agent. The agent responsible for managing the execution of a C# program is the Virtual Execution System (VES), generally more casually referred to as the runtime. (Note that the runtime in this context does not refer to a time, such as execution time; rather, the runtime—the Virtual Execution System—is an agent responsible for managing the execution of a C# program.) The runtime is responsible for loading and running programs and providing additional services (security, garbage collection, and so on) to the program as it executes. The specification for the CIL and the runtime is contained within an international standard known as the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). This is a key specification for understanding the context in which a C# program executes and how it can seamlessly interact with other programs and libraries, even when they are written in alternate languages. Note that the CLI does not prescribe the implementation for the standard, but rather identifies the requirements for how a CLI platform should behave once it conforms to the standard. This provides CLI implementers with the flexibility to innovate where necessary, while still providing enough structure that programs created by one platform can execute on a different CLI implementation, and even on a different operating system.

NOTE Note the similarity between these two acronyms and the names they stand for. Take care to understand these upfront to avoid confusion later on.


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Contained within the CLI standard are specifications for the following: • The Virtual Execution System (VES, or runtime) • The Common Intermediate Language (CIL) • The Common Type System (CTS) • The Common Language Specification (CLS) • Metadata • The framework

This chapter broadens your view of C# to include the CLI, which is critical to how C# programs operate and interact with programs and with the operating system.

CLI Implementations There are currently seven predominant implementations of the CLI (four of which are from Microsoft), each with an accompanying implementation of a C# compiler. Table 21.1 describes these implementations. TABLE 21.1: Primary C# Compilers

Compiler

Description

Microsoft Visual C# .NET Compiler

Microsoft’s .NET C# compiler is dominant in the industry, but it is limited to running on the Windows family of operating systems. You can download it free as part of the Microsoft .NET Framework SDK from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/ default.aspx.

Microsoft Silverlight

This is a cross-platform implementation of the CLI that runs on both the Windows family of operating systems and the Macintosh. Resources for getting started with development on this platform are available at http://silverlight.net/ getstarted.

Microsoft Compact Framework

This is a trimmed-down implementation of the .NET Framework designed to run on PDAs and phones. Continues


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Chapter 21: The Common Language Infrastructure TABLE 21.1: Primary C# Compilers (Continued)

Compiler

Description

Microsoft XNA

This is a CLI implementation for game developers targeting Xbox and Windows Vista. For more information, see www.xna.com.

Mono Project

The Mono Project is an open source implementation sponsored by Ximian and designed to provide a Windows-, Linux-, and Unix-compatible version of the CLI specification and C# compiler. Source code and binaries are available at www.go-mono.com.

DotGNU

This is focused on creating platform-portable applications that will run under both the .NET and the DotGNU. Portable.NET implementations of the CLI. This implementation is available from www.dotgnu.org. Supported operating systems include GNU/Linux *BSD, Cygwin/ Mingw32, Mac OS X, Solaris, AIX, and PARISC. DotGNU and Mono have used portions of each other’s libraries at various times.

Rotor

The Rotor program, also known as the Shared Source CLI, is an implementation of the CLI that Microsoft developed to run on Windows, Mac OS X, and FreeBSD. Both the implementation and the source code are available free at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms973880.aspx. Note that although the source code is available for download, Microsoft has not licensed Rotor for developing commercial applications, and instead has targeted it as a learning tool.

Although none of these platforms and compilers would have any problems with the source code shown in Chapter 1, note that each CLI and C# compiler implementation is at a different stage of compliance with the specifications. For example, some implementations will not compile all the newer syntax. All implementations, however, are intended to comply with the ECMA-334 specification for C# 1.01 and the ECMA-335 specification for the CLI 1.2.2 Furthermore, many implementations include prototype features prior to the establishment of those features in standards. 1. This is available for free via mail, or via download at www.ecma-international.org/ publications/standards/Ecma-334.htm. 2. This is available for free via mail, or via download at www.ecma-international.org/ publications/standards/Ecma-335.htm.


C# Compilation to Machine Code

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C# Compilation to Machine Code The HelloWorld program listing in Chapter 1 is obviously C# code, and you compiled it for execution using the C# compiler. However, the processor still cannot directly interpret compiled C# code. An additional compilation step is required to convert the result of C# compilation into machine code. Furthermore, the execution requires the involvement of an agent that adds additional services to the C# program, services that it was not necessary to code for explicitly. All computer languages define syntax and semantics for programming. Since languages such as C and C++ compile to machine code, the platform for these languages is the underlying operating system and machine instruction set, be it Microsoft Windows, Linux, Unix, or others. Languages such as C# are different; the underlying platform is the runtime (or VES). CIL is what the C# compiler produces after compiling. It is termed a “common intermediate language” (CIL) because an additional step is required to transform the CIL into something that processors can understand. Figure 21.1 shows the process. In other words, C# compilation requires two steps: 1. Conversion from C# to CIL by the C# compiler 2. Conversion from CIL to instructions that the processor can execute The runtime is able to understand CIL statements and compile them to machine code. Generally, a component within the runtime performs this compilation from CIL to machine code. This component is the just-in-time (JIT) compiler, and jitting can occur when the program is installed or executed. Most CLI implementations favor execution-time compilation of the CIL, but the CLI does not specify when the compilation needs to occur. In fact, the CLI even allows the CIL to be interpreted rather than compiled, similar to the way many scripting languages work. In addition, .NET includes a tool called NGEN that enables compilation to machine code prior to actually running the program. This preexecution-time compilation needs to take place on the computer on which the program will be executing because it will evaluate the machine characteristics (processor, memory, and so on) in order to generate more efficient code. The advantage of using


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C# Code class HelloWorld { static void Main() { System.Console.WriteLine( "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya"); } }

C# Compiler

CIL Code .method private hidebysig static void Main() cil managed { .entrypoint //Code size 11 (0xb) .maxstack 8 IL_0000: ldstr "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya" IL_0005: call void [mscorlib]System.Console::WriteLine(string) IL_000a: ret } // end of method HelloWorld::Main

Runtime

Machine Code 00000000 00000001 00000003 00000006 0000000d 00000014 0000001b 0000001d 00000022 00000028 0000002e 0000002f 00000031 00000032

push mov sub mov mov cmp je call mov call nop mov pop ret

ebp ebp,esp esp,28h dword ptr dword ptr dword ptr 00000022 75F9C9E0 ecx,dword dword ptr

[ebp-4],0 [ebp-0Ch],0 ds:[001833E0h],0 ptr ds:[01C31418h] ds: [03C8E854h]

esp,ebp ebp

Figure 21.1: Compiling C# to Machine Code


Runtime

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NGEN at installation (or at any time prior to execution) is that you can reduce

the need for the jitter to run at startup, thereby decreasing startup time.

Runtime Even after the runtime converts the CIL code to machine code and starts to execute, it continues to maintain control of its execution. The code that executes under the context of an agent such as the runtime is managed code, and the process of executing under control of the runtime is managed execution. The control over execution transfers to the data; this makes it managed data because memory for the data is automatically allocated and de-allocated by the runtime. Somewhat inconsistently, the term Common Language Runtime (CLR) is not technically a generic term that is part of the CLI. Rather, CLR is the Microsoft-specific implementation of the runtime for the .NET platform. Regardless, CLR is casually used as a generic term for runtime, and the technically accurate term, Virtual Execution System, is seldom used outside the context of the CLI specification. Because an agent controls program execution, it is possible to inject additional services into a program, even though programmers did not explicitly code for them. Managed code, therefore, provides information to allow these services to be attached. Among other items, managed code enables the location of metadata about a type member, exception handling, access to security information, and the capability to walk the stack. The remainder of this section includes a description of some additional services made available via the runtime and managed execution. The CLI does not explicitly require all of them, but the established CLI platforms have an implementation of each.

Garbage Collection Garbage collection is the process of automatically de-allocating memory based on the program’s needs. This is a significant programming problem for languages that don’t have an automated system for doing this. Without the garbage collector, programmers must remember to always free any memory allocations they make. Forgetting to do so, or doing so repeatedly


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for the same memory allocation, introduces memory leaks or corruption into the program, something exacerbated by long-running programs such as web servers. Because of the runtime’s built-in support for garbage collection, programmers targeting runtime execution can focus on adding program features rather than “plumbing” related to memory management.

Language Contrast: C++—Deterministic Destruction The exact mechanics for how the garbage collector works are not part of the CLI specification; therefore, each implementation can take a slightly different approach. (In fact, garbage collection is one item not explicitly required by the CLI.) One key concept that may take C++ programmers a little getting used to is that garbage-collected objects are not necessarily collected deterministically (at well-defined, compile-time-known locations). In fact, objects can be garbage-collected anytime between when they are last accessed and when the program shuts down. This includes collection prior to falling out of scope, or waiting until well after an object instance is accessible by the code.

It should be noted that the garbage collector only takes responsibility for handling memory management. It does not provide an automated system for managing resources unrelated to memory. Therefore, if an explicit action to free a resource (other than memory) is required, programmers using that resource should utilize special CLI-compatible programming patterns that will aid in the cleanup of those resources (see Chapter 9).

Garbage Collection on .NET The .NET platform implementation of garbage collection uses a generational, compacting, mark-and-sweep-based algorithm. It is generational because objects that have lived for only a short period will be cleaned up sooner than objects that have already survived garbage collection sweeps because they were still in use. This conforms to the general pattern of memory allocation that objects that have been around longer will continue to outlive objects that have only recently been instantiated.


Runtime

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Additionally, the .NET garbage collector uses a mark-and-sweep algorithm. During each garbage collection execution, it marks objects that are to be de-allocated and compacts together the objects that remain so that there is no “dirty” space between them. The use of compression to fill in the space left by de-allocated objects often results in faster instantiation of new objects (than with unmanaged code), because it is not necessary to search through memory to locate space for a new allocation. This also decreases the chance of paging because more objects are located in the same page, which improves performance as well. The garbage collector takes into consideration the resources on the machine and the demand on those resources at execution time. For example, if memory on the computer is still largely untapped, the garbage collector is less likely to run and take time to clean up those resources. This is an optimization rarely taken by platforms and languages that are not based on garbage collection.

Type Safety One of the key advantages the runtime offers is checking conversions between types, or type checking. Via type checking, the runtime prevents programmers from unintentionally introducing invalid casts that can lead to buffer overrun vulnerabilities. Such vulnerabilities are one of the most common means of breaking into a computer system, and having the runtime automatically prevent these is a significant gain.3 Type checking provided by the runtime ensures the following. • Both variables and the data the variables refer to are typed, and the

type of the variable is compatible with the data that it refers to. • It is possible to locally analyze a type (without analyzing all of the

code in which the type is used) to determine what permissions will be required to execute that type’s members. • Each type has a compile-time-defined set of methods and the data

they contain. The runtime enforces rules about what classes can access those methods and data. Methods marked as “private,” for example, are accessible only by the containing type. 3. Assuming you are not the unscrupulous type that is looking for such vulnerabilities.


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ADVANCED TOPIC Circumventing Encapsulation and Access Modifiers Given appropriate permissions, it is possible to circumvent encapsulation and access modifiers via a mechanism known as reflection. Reflection provides late binding by enabling support for browsing through a type’s members, looking up the names of particular constructs within an object’s metadata, and invoking the type’s members. Code Access Security The runtime can make security checks as the program executes, allowing and disallowing the specific types of operations depending on permissions. Permission to execute a specific function is not restricted to authentication of the user running the program. The runtime also controls execution based on who created the program and whether she is a trusted provider. Similarly, you might want to note that Code Access Security (CAS) also applies security policy based on the location of the code—by default, code installed on the local machine is more trusted than code from the LAN, which is much more trusted than code on the Internet. Permissions can be tuned such that partially trusted providers can read and write files from controlled locations on the disk, but they are prevented from accessing other locations (such as email addresses from an email program) for which the provider has not been granted permission. Identification of a provider is handled by certificates that are embedded into the program when the provider compiles the code. Platform Portability One theoretical feature of the runtime is the opportunity it provides for C# code and the resultant programs to be platform-portable, capable of running on multiple operating systems and executing on different CLI implementations. Portability in this context is not limited to the source code such that recompiling is necessary. A single CLI module compiled for one platform should run on any CLI-compatible platform without needing to be recompiled. This portability occurs because the work of porting the code lies in the hands of the runtime implementation rather than the application developer. The restriction is, of course, that no platform-specific APIs are used. Because of this restriction, many developers forgo CLI platform-neutral


Runtime

853

code in favor of accessing the underlying platform functionality, rather than writing it all from scratch. The platform portability offered by .NET, DotGNU, Rotor, and Mono varies depending on the goals of the platform developers. For obvious reasons, .NET was targeted to run only on the Microsoft series of operating systems. Rotor, also produced by Microsoft, was primarily designed as a means for teaching and fostering research into future CLI development. Its inclusion of support for FreeBSD proves the portability characteristics of the CLI. Some of the libraries included in .NET (such as WinForms, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, and more) are not available in Rotor. DotGNU and Mono were initially targeted at Linux but have since been ported to many different operating systems. Furthermore, the goal of these CLIs was to provide a means for porting .NET applications to operating systems in addition to those controlled by Microsoft. In so doing, there is a large overlap between the APIs found in .NET and those available in Mono and DotGNU. Unfortunately, the variance in the Based Class Library alone (even just within the Microsoft-developed CLI platforms) makes portability difficult at best. Perhaps the best option is for Silverlight development to be compatible with the full .NET Framework (but the reverse is unlikely to work unless development is restricted to the set of compatible APIs).

Performance Many programmers accustomed to writing unmanaged code will correctly point out that managed environments impose overhead on applications, no matter how simple. The trade-off is one of increased development productivity and reduced bugs in managed code versus runtime performance. The same dichotomy emerged as programming went from assembler to higher-level languages such as C, and from structured programming to object-oriented development. In the vast majority of scenarios, development productivity wins out, especially as the speed and reduced price of hardware surpass the demands of applications. Time spent on architectural design is much more likely to yield big performance gains than the complexities of a low-level development platform. In the climate of security holes caused by buffer overruns, managed execution is even more compelling.


854


Undoubtedly, certain development scenarios (device drivers, for example) may not yet fit with managed execution. However, as managed execution increases in capability and sophistication, many of these performance considerations will likely vanish. Unmanaged execution will then be reserved for development where precise control or circumvention of the runtime is deemed necessary.4 Furthermore, the runtime introduces several factors that can contribute to improved performance over native compilation. For example, because translation to machine code takes place on the destination machine, the resultant compiled code matches the processor and memory layout of that machine, resulting in performance gains generally not leveraged by nonjitted languages. Also, the runtime is able to respond to execution conditions that direct compilation to machine code rarely takes into account. If, for example, there is more memory on the box than is required, unmanaged languages will still de-allocate their memory at deterministic, compiletime-defined execution points in the code. Alternatively, jit-compiled languages will need to de-allocate memory only when it is running low or when the program is shutting down. Even though jitting can add a compile step to the execution process, code efficiencies that a jitter can insert lead to performance rivaling that of programs compiled directly to machine code. Ultimately, CLI programs are not necessarily faster than non-CLI programs, but their performance is competitive.

Application Domains By introducing a layer between the program and the operating system, it is possible to implement virtual processes or applications known as application domains (app domains). An application domain behaves like an operating system process in that it offers a level of isolation between other application domains. For example, an app domain has its own virtual memory allocation, and communication between application domains requires distributed communication paradigms, just as it would between two operating system processes. Similarly, static data is not shared 4. Indeed, Microsoft has indicated that managed development will be the predominant means of writing applications for its Windows platform in the future, even those applications that integrate with the operating system.


Assemblies, Manifests, and Modules

855

between application domains, so static constructors run for each application domain, and assuming a single thread per application domain, there is no need to synchronize the static data because each application has its own instance of the data. Furthermore, each application domain has its own threads, and just like with an operating system process, threads cannot cross application domain boundaries. The point of an application domain is that processes are considered relatively expensive. With application domains, you can avoid this additional expense by running multiple application domains within a single process. For example, you can use a single process to host a series of web sites. However, you can isolate the web sites from each other by placing them in their own application domain. In summary, application domains represent a virtual process on a layer between an operating system process and the threads.

Assemblies, Manifests, and Modules Included in the CLI is the specification of the CIL output from a source language compiler, usually an assembly. In addition to the CIL instructions themselves, an assembly includes a manifest which is made up of the following: • The types that an assembly defines and imports • Version information about the assembly itself • Additional files the assembly depends on • Security permissions for the assembly

The manifest is essentially a header to the assembly, providing all the information about what an assembly is composed of, along with the information that uniquely identifies it. Assemblies can be class libraries or the executables themselves, and one assembly can reference other assemblies (which, in turn, can reference more assemblies), thereby establishing an application composed of many components rather than one large, monolithic program. This is an important feature that modern programming platforms take for granted, because it significantly improves maintainability and allows a single component to be shared across multiple programs.


856


In addition to the manifest, an assembly contains the CIL code within one or more modules. Generally, the assembly and the manifest are combined into a single file, as was the case with HelloWorld.exe in Chapter 1. However, it is possible to place modules into their own separate files and then use an assembly linker (al.exe) to create an assembly file that includes a manifest that references each module.5 This not only provides another means of breaking a program into components, but it also enables the development of one assembly using multiple source languages. Casually, the terms module and assembly are somewhat interchangeable. However, the term assembly is predominant for those talking about CLI-compatible programs or libraries. Figure 21.2 depicts the various component terms.

subsystem Compress.UI.dll

Program.exe

subsystem Compress.Algorithms.Netmodule

subsystem Compress. Resource

subsystem Compress.dll

Assembly Boundary subsystem System.dll

File Boundary Process/Appdomain Boundary

Figure 21.2: Assemblies with the Modules and Files They Reference

5. This is partly because one of the primary CLI IDEs, Visual Studio .NET, lacks functionality for working with assemblies composed of multiple modules. Current implementations of Visual Studio .NET do not have integrated tools for building multimodule assemblies, and when they use such assemblies, IntelliSense does not fully function.


Assemblies, Manifests, and Modules

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Note that both assemblies and modules can also reference files such as resource files that have been localized to a particular language. Although it is rare, two different assemblies can reference the same module or file. In spite of the fact that an assembly can include multiple modules and files, there is only one version number for the entire group of files and it is placed in the assembly manifest. Therefore, the smallest versionable component within an application is the assembly, even if that assembly is composed of multiple files. If you change any of the referenced files—even to release a patch—without updating the assembly manifest, you will violate the integrity of the manifest and the entire assembly itself. As a result, assemblies form the logical construct of a component or unit of deployment.

NOTE Assemblies form the smallest unit that can be versioned and installed, not the individual modules that comprise them.

Even though an assembly (the logical construct) could consist of multiple modules, most assemblies contain only one. Furthermore, Microsoft now provides an ILMerge.exe utility for combining multiple modules and their manifests into a single file assembly. Because the manifest includes a reference to all the files an assembly depends on, it is possible to use the manifest to determine an assembly’s dependencies. Furthermore, at execution time, the runtime needs to examine only the manifest to determine what files it requires. Only tool vendors distributing libraries shared by multiple applications (Microsoft, for example) need to register those files at deployment time. This makes deployment significantly easier. Often, deployment of a CLI-based application is referred to as xcopy deployment, after the Windows xcopy command that simply copies files to a selected destination.


858


Language Contrast: COM DLL Registration Unlike Microsoft’s COM files of the past, CLI assemblies rarely require any type of registration. Instead, it is possible to deploy applications by copying all the files that comprise a program into a particular directory, and then executing the program.

Common Intermediate Language (CIL) Considering the Common Language Infrastructure (CLI) name, another important feature of the CIL and the CLI is to support the interaction of multiple languages within the same application (instead of portability of source code across multiple operating systems). As a result, the CIL is the intermediate language not only for C#, but also for many other languages, including Visual Basic .NET, the Java-like language of J#, some incantations of Smalltalk, C++, and a host of others (more than 20 at the time of this writing, including versions of COBOL and FORTRAN). Languages that compile to the CIL are source languages and each has a custom compiler that converts the source language to the CIL. Once compiled to the CIL, the source language is insignificant. This powerful feature enables the development of libraries by different development groups across multiple organizations, without concern for the language choice of a particular group. Thus, the CIL enables programming language interoperability as well as platform portability.

NOTE A powerful feature of the CLI is support for multiple languages. This enables the creation of programs using multiple languages and the accessibility of libraries written in one language from code written in a different language.

Common Type System (CTS) Regardless of the programming language, the resultant program operates internally on data types; therefore, the CLI includes the Common Type System (CTS). The CTS defines how types are structured and laid out in memory,


Common Language Specification (CLS)

859

as well as the concepts and behaviors that surround types. It includes type manipulation directives alongside the information about the data stored within the type. The CTS standard applies to how types appear and behave at the external boundary of a language because the purpose of the CTS is to achieve interoperability between languages. It is the responsibility of the runtime at execution time to enforce the contracts established by the CTS. Within the CTS, types are broken down into two categories. • Values are bit patterns used to represent basic types, such as integers

and characters, as well as more complex data in the form of structures. Each value type corresponds to a separate type designation not stored within the bits themselves. The separate type designation refers to the type definition that provides the meaning of each bit within the value and the operations that the value supports. • Objects contain within them the object’s type designation. (This helps

in enabling type checking.) Objects have identity that makes each instance unique. Furthermore, objects have slots that can store other types (either values or object references). Unlike values, changing the contents of a slot does not change the identity of the object. These two categories of types translate directly to C# syntax that provides a means of declaring each type.

Common Language Specification (CLS) Since the language integration advantages provided by the CTS generally outweigh the costs of implementing it, the majority of source languages support the CTS. However, there is also a subset of CTS language conformance called the Common Language Specification (CLS). Its focus is toward library implementations. It targets library developers, providing them with standards for writing libraries that are accessible from the majority of source languages, regardless of whether the source languages using the library are CTS-compliant. It is called the Common Language Specification because it is intended to also encourage CLI languages to provide a means of creating interoperable libraries, or libraries that are accessible from other languages.


860


For example, although it is perfectly reasonable for a language to provide support for an unsigned integer, such a type is not included as part of the CLS. Therefore, developers implementing a class library should not externally expose unsigned integers because doing so would cause the library to be less accessible from CLS-compliant source languages that do not support unsigned integers. Ideally, therefore, any development of libraries that is to be accessible from multiple languages should conform to the CLS specification. Note that the CLS is not concerned with types that are not exposed externally to the assembly. Note that it is possible to have the compiler issue a warning when you create an API that is not CLS compliant. To accomplish this, use the assembly attribute System.CLSCompliant and specify a value of true for the parameter.

Base Class Library (BCL) In addition to providing a platform in which CIL code can execute, the CLI also defines a core set of class libraries that programs may employ, called the Base Class Library (BCL). These libraries provide foundational types and APIs, allowing the program to interact with the runtime and underlying operating system in a consistent manner. The BCL includes support for collections, simple file access, some security, fundamental data types (string, and so on), streams, and the like. Similarly, there is a Microsoft-specific library called the Framework Class Library (FCL) that adds to this and includes support for rich client user interfaces, web user interfaces, database access, distributed communication, and more.

Metadata In addition to execution instructions, CIL code includes metadata about the types and files included in a program. The metadata includes the following: • Descriptions of each type within a program or class library • The manifest information containing data about the program itself,

along with the libraries it depends on


Metadata

861

• Custom attributes embedded in the code, providing additional

information about the constructs the attributes decorate The metadata is not a cursory, nonessential add-on to the CIL. Instead, it forms a core part of the CLI implementation. It provides the representation and the behavior information about a type and includes location information about which assembly contains a particular type definition. It serves a key role in saving data from the compiler and making it accessible at execution time to debuggers and the runtime. This data not only is available in the CIL code, but also is accessible during machine code execution so that the runtime can continue to make any necessary type checks. Metadata provides a mechanism for the runtime to handle a mixture of native and managed code execution. Also, it increases code and execution robustness because it smoothes the migration from one library version to the next, replacing compile-time-defined binding with a loadtime implementation. All header information about a library and its dependencies is in a portion of the metadata known as the manifest. As a result, the manifest portion of the metadata enables developers to determine a module’s dependencies, including information about particular versions of the dependencies and signatures of who created the module. At execution time, the runtime uses the manifest to determine what dependent libraries to load, whether the libraries or the main program has been tampered with, and whether assemblies are missing. The metadata also contains custom attributes that may decorate the code. Attributes provide additional metadata about CIL instructions that are accessible via the program at execution time. Metadata is available at execution time by a mechanism known as reflection. With reflection, it is possible to look up a type or its member at execution time and then invoke that member or determine whether a construct is decorated with a particular attribute. This provides late binding, determining what code to execute at execution time rather than at compile time. Reflection can even be used for generating documentation by iterating through metadata and copying it into a help document of some kind (see Chapter 17).


862


SUMMARY This chapter described many new terms and acronyms that are important to understanding the context under which C# programs run. The preponderance of three-letter acronyms can be confusing. Table 21.2 provides a summary list of the terms and acronyms that are part of the CLI. TABLE 21.2: Common C#-Related Acronyms

Acronym

Definition

Description

.NET

None

Microsoft’s implementation of the entire CLI stack. Includes the CLR, CIL, and various languages, all of which are CLS-compliant.

BCL

Base Class Library

The portion of the CLI specification that defines the collection, threading, console, and other base classes necessary to build virtually all programs.

C#

None

A programming language. Note that separate from the CLI standard there is a C# Language Specification, also ratified by the ECMA and ISO standards bodies.

CIL (IL)

Common Intermediate Language

The language of the CLI specification that defines the instructions for the code executable on implementations of the CLI. This is sometimes also referred to as IL or Microsoft IL (MSIL) to distinguish it from other intermediate languages. (To indicate that it is a standard broader than Microsoft, CIL is preferred over MSIL and even IL.)

CLI

Common Language Infrastructure

The specification that defines the intermediate language, base classes, and behavioral characteristics which enable implementers to create Virtual Execution Systems and compilers in which source languages are interoperable on top of a common execution environment.

CLR

Common Language Runtime

Microsoft’s implementation of the runtime, as defined in the CLI specification.


Summary

863

TABLE 21.2: Common C#-Related Acronyms (Continued)

Acronym

Definition

Description

CLS

Common Language Specification

The portion of the CLI specification that defines the core subset of features which source languages must support in order to be executable on runtimes implemented according to the CLI specification.

CTS

Common Type System

A standard generally implemented by CLI-compliant languages that defines the representation and behavior of types that the language exposes visibly outside a module. It includes concepts for how types can be combined to form new types.

FCL

.NET Framework Class Library

The class library that comprises Microsoft’s .NET Framework. It includes Microsoft’s implementation of the BCL as well as a large library of classes for such things as web development, distributed communication, database access, rich client user interface development, and a host of others.

VES (runtime)

Virtual Execution System

An agent that manages the execution of a program that is compiled for the CLI.




A Downloading and Installing the C# Compiler and the CLI Platform

T

O COMPILE AND RUN C# programs, it is necessary to install a version of

the compiler and the CLI platform.

Microsoft’s .NET The predominant CLI platform is Microsoft .NET and this is the platform of choice for development on Microsoft Windows. • The minimum installation that includes the compiler and the .NET

Framework with C# 2.0 syntax support is the redistributable package for the .NET Framework 2.0 or higher. This is available at http:// msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/default.aspx. • For a rich IDE that includes IntelliSense and support for project files,

install a version of the Visual Studio IDE. This includes Visual C# Express, which is available free at http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/ express.

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Appendix A: Downloading and Installing the C# Compiler

For command-line compilation, regardless of a Visual Studio install or only the runtime, you must set the PATH environment variable to include the C# compiler, CSC.EXE.

Setting Up the Compiler Path with Microsoft .NET If Visual Studio .NET is installed on your computer, open the command prompt from the Start menu by selecting All Programs, Microsoft Visual Studio .NET, Visual Studio Tools, Visual Studio Command Prompt. This command prompt places CSC.EXE in the path to be available for execution from any directory. Without Visual Studio .NET installed, no special compiler command prompt item appears in the Start menu. Instead, you need to reference the full compiler pathname explicitly or add it to the path. The compiler is located at %Windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\, where is the version of the .NET Framework (v1.0.3705, v1.1.4322, v2.0.50727, and so on) and %Windir% is the environment variable that points to the location of the Windows directory. To add this location to the path use Set PATH=%PATH%;%Windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\, again substituting the value of appropriately. Output A.1 provides an example. OUTPUT A.1: Set PATH=%PATH%;%Windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727

Once the path includes the framework, it is possible to use the .NET C# compiler, CSC.EXE, without providing the full path to its location.

Mono For CLI development on platforms other than Microsoft Windows, consider Mono, which is a platform you can download at www.mono-project.com. As with the .NET platform, Mono requires the full path to the C# compiler if it is not already in the search path. The default installation path on Linux is /usr/lib/mono/ and the compiler is gmcs.exe or mcs.exe,


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depending on the version. (If Mono is installed on Microsoft Windows, the default path is %ProgramFiles%\Mono-\lib\mono\\.) One option for a Linux version that includes an installation of Mono is Monoppix. This builds on the CD-bootable Linux distribution known as Knoppix and is available for download at www.monoppix.com. Instead of CSC.EXE, the Mono platform’s compiler is MCS.EXE or GMCS.EXE, depending on the compiler version. Therefore, the command for compiling HelloWorld.cs is as shown in Output A.2. OUTPUT A.2: C:\SAMPLES>msc.exe HelloWorld.cs

Unfortunately, the Linux environment cannot run the resultant binaries directly; instead, it requires explicit execution of the runtime using mono.exe, as shown in Output A.3. OUTPUT A.3: C:\SAMPLES>mono.exe HelloWorld.exe Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya.




B Full Source Code Listings

M

in this book have source code spread over multiple listings. When listings are large, this makes the code difficult to follow. This appendix includes the code listings as one program, making the individual listings easier to understand as a whole. ANY OF THE CHAPTERS

Chapters 3 and 4 Listing B.1: Tic-Tac-Toe #define CSHARP2 using System; #pragma warning disable 1030 // Disable user-defined warnings // The TicTacToe class enables two players to // play tic-tac-toe. class TicTacToeGame // Declares the TicTacToeGame class { static void Main() // Declares the entry point to the program { // Stores locations each player has moved. int[] playerPositions = { 0, 0 }; // Initially set the currentPlayer to Player 1; int currentPlayer = 1; // Winning player

869


870

Appendix B: Full Source Code Listings int winner = 0; string input = null;

// Display the board and // prompt the current player // for his next move. for (int turn = 1; turn 0) { System.Console.WriteLine("\nPlayer {0} has won!!!!" winner); endGame = true; } else if (turn == 10) { // After completing the 10th display of the // board, exit out rather than prompting the // user again. System.Console.WriteLine("\nThe game was a tie!"); endGame = true; } else if (input == "" || input == "quit") { // Check if user quit by hitting Enter without // any characters or by typing "quit". System.Console.WriteLine("The last player quit"); endGame = true; } return endGame; } static int DetermineWinner(int[] playerPositions) { int winner = 0; // Determine if there is a winner int[] winningMasks = { 7, 56, 448, 73, 146, 292, 84, 273}; foreach (int mask in winningMasks) { if ((mask & playerPositions[0]) == mask) { winner = 1; break; } else if ((mask & playerPositions[1]) == mask) { winner = 2; break; } }


872

Appendix B: Full Source Code Listings return winner; } static bool ValidateAndMove( int[] playerPositions, int currentPlayer, string input) { bool valid = false; // Check the current player’s input. switch (input) { case "1": case "2": case "3": case "4": case "5": case "6": case "7": case "8": case "9": #warning "Same move allowed multiple times." int shifter; // The number of places to shift // over in order to set a bit. int position; // The bit which is to be set. // int.Parse() converts "input" to an integer. // "int.Parse(input) – 1" because arrays // are zero-based. shifter = int.Parse(input) - 1; // Shift mask of 00000000000000000000000000000001 // over by cellLocations. position = 1 (); properties = commandLine.GetType().GetProperties( BindingFlags.Public | BindingFlags.NonPublic | BindingFlags.Instance); foreach (PropertyInfo property in properties) { options.Add(property.Name.ToLower(), property); foreach (CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute attribute in property.GetCustomAttributes( typeof(CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute), false)) { options.Add(attribute.Alias.ToLower(), property); } } return options; } }

using System; using System.Reflection; using System.Collections.Generic; public class CommandLineHandler { // ... public static bool TryParse( string[] args, object commandLine, out string errorMessage) { bool success = false; errorMessage = null;


Chapter 14

887

Dictionary<string, PropertyInfo> options = CommandLineSwitchAliasAttribute.GetSwitches( commandLine); foreach (string arg in args) { PropertyInfo property; string option; if (arg[0] == '/' || arg[0] == '-') { string[] optionParts = arg.Split( new char[] { ':' }, 2); option = optionParts[0].Remove(0, 1).ToLower(); if (options.TryGetValue(option, out property)) { success = SetOption( commandLine, property, optionParts, ref errorMessage); } else { success = false; errorMessage = string.Format( "Option '{0}' is not supported.", option); } } } return success; } private static bool SetOption( object commandLine, PropertyInfo property, string[] optionParts, ref string errorMessage) { bool success; if (property.PropertyType == typeof(bool)) { // Last parameters for handling indexers property.SetValue( commandLine, true, null); success = true; } else { if ((optionParts.Length < 2)


888

Appendix B: Full Source Code Listings || optionParts[1] == "" || optionParts[1] == ":") { // No setting was provided for the switch. success = false; errorMessage = string.Format( "You must specify the value for the {0} option.", property.Name); } else if ( property.PropertyType == typeof(string)) { property.SetValue( commandLine, optionParts[1], null); success = true; } else if (property.PropertyType.IsEnum) { success = TryParseEnumSwitch( commandLine, optionParts, property, ref errorMessage); } else { success = false; errorMessage = string.Format( "Data type '{0}' on {1} is not supported.", property.PropertyType.ToString(), commandLine.GetType().ToString()); } } return success; } }

Chapter 17 Listing B.5: Virtual Computer Detection Using P/Invoke using System.Runtime.InteropServices; class Program { delegate void MethodInvoker(); unsafe static int Main(string[] args) { // Assign redpill


Chapter 17

889

byte[] redpill = { 0x0f, 0x01, 0x0d, // asm SIDT instruction 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, // placeholder for an address 0xc3}; // asm return instruction unsafe { fixed (byte* matrix = new byte[6], redpillPtr = redpill) { // Move the address of matrix immediately // following the SIDT instruction of memory. *(uint*)&redpillPtr[3] = (uint)&matrix[0]; using (VirtualMemoryPtr codeBytesPtr = new VirtualMemoryPtr(redpill.Length)) { Marshal.Copy( redpill, 0, codeBytesPtr, redpill.Length); MethodInvoker method = (MethodInvoker)Marshal.GetDelegateForFunctionPointer( codeBytesPtr, typeof(MethodInvoker)); method(); } if (matrix[5] > 0xd0) { Console.WriteLine("Inside Matrix! \n"); return 1; } else { Console.WriteLine("Not in Matrix. \n"); return 0; } } // fixed } // unsafe } }

public class VirtualMemoryPtr : System.Runtime.InteropServices.SafeHandle { public VirtualMemoryPtr(int memorySize) : base(IntPtr.Zero, true) { ProcessHandle =


890

Appendix B: Full Source Code Listings VirtualMemoryManager.GetCurrentProcessHandle(); MemorySize = (IntPtr)memorySize; AllocatedPointer = VirtualMemoryManager.AllocExecutionBlock( memorySize, ProcessHandle); Disposed = false; } public readonly IntPtr AllocatedPointer; readonly IntPtr ProcessHandle; readonly IntPtr MemorySize; bool Disposed; public static implicit operator IntPtr( VirtualMemoryPtr virtualMemoryPointer) { return virtualMemoryPointer.AllocatedPointer; } // SafeHandle abstract member public override bool IsInvalid { get { return Disposed; } } // SafeHandle abstract member protected override bool ReleaseHandle() { if (!Disposed) { Disposed = true; GC.SuppressFinalize(this); VirtualMemoryManager.VirtualFreeEx(ProcessHandle, AllocatedPointer, MemorySize); } return true; } }

class VirtualMemoryManager { /// /// /// ///

<summary> The type of memory allocation. This parameter must contain one of the following values.


Chapter 17

891

[Flags] private enum AllocationType : uint { /// <summary> /// Allocates physical storage in memory or in the /// paging file on disk for the specified reserved /// memory pages. The function initializes the memory /// to zero. /// Commit = 0x1000, /// <summary> /// Reserves a range of the process's virtual address /// space without allocating any actual physical /// storage in memory or in the paging file on disk. /// Reserve = 0x2000, /// <summary> /// Indicates that data in the memory range specified by /// lpAddress and dwSize is no longer of interest. The /// pages should not be read from or written to the /// paging file. However, the memory block will be used /// again later, so it should not be decommitted. This /// value cannot be used with any other value. /// Reset = 0x80000, /// <summary> /// Allocates physical memory with read-write access. /// This value is solely for use with Address Windowing /// Extensions (AWE) memory. /// Physical = 0x400000, /// <summary> /// Allocates memory at the highest possible address. /// TopDown = 0x100000, } /// <summary> /// The memory protection for the region of pages to be /// allocated. /// [Flags] private enum ProtectionOptions : uint { /// <summary> /// Enables execute access to the committed region of /// pages. An attempt to read or write to the committed /// region results in an access violation. ///


892

Appendix B: Full Source Code Listings Execute = 0x10, /// <summary> /// Enables execute and read access to the committed /// region of pages. An attempt to write to the /// committed region results in an access violation. /// PageExecuteRead = 0x20, /// <summary> /// Enables execute, read, and write access to the /// committed region of pages. /// PageExecuteReadWrite = 0x40, // ... } /// <summary> /// The type of free operation /// [Flags] private enum MemoryFreeType : uint { /// <summary> /// Decommits the specified region of committed pages. /// After the operation, the pages are in the reserved /// state. /// Decommit = 0x4000, /// <summary> /// Releases the specified region of pages. After this /// operation, the pages are in the free state. /// Release = 0x8000 } [DllImport("kernel32.dll", EntryPoint="GetCurrentProcess")] internal static extern IntPtr GetCurrentProcessHandle(); [DllImport("kernel32.dll")] internal static extern IntPtr GetCurrentProcess(); [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)] private static extern IntPtr VirtualAllocEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize, AllocationType flAllocationType, uint flProtect); // ... [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]


Chapter 17

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static extern bool VirtualProtectEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize, uint flNewProtect, ref uint lpflOldProtect); public static IntPtr AllocExecutionBlock( int size, IntPtr hProcess) { IntPtr codeBytesPtr; codeBytesPtr = VirtualAllocEx( hProcess, IntPtr.Zero, (IntPtr)size, AllocationType.Reserve | AllocationType.Commit, (uint)ProtectionOptions.PageExecuteReadWrite); if (codeBytesPtr == IntPtr.Zero) { throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(); } uint lpflOldProtect = 0; if (!VirtualProtectEx( hProcess, codeBytesPtr, (IntPtr)size, (uint)ProtectionOptions.PageExecuteReadWrite, ref lpflOldProtect)) { throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(); } return codeBytesPtr; } public static IntPtr AllocExecutionBlock(int size) { return AllocExecutionBlock( size, GetCurrentProcessHandle()); } [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)] static extern bool VirtualFreeEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize, IntPtr dwFreeType); public static bool VirtualFreeEx( IntPtr hProcess, IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize) { bool result = VirtualFreeEx( hProcess, lpAddress, dwSize, (IntPtr)MemoryFreeType.Decommit); if (!result)


894

Appendix B: Full Source Code Listings { throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(); } return result; } public static bool VirtualFreeEx( IntPtr lpAddress, IntPtr dwSize) { return VirtualFreeEx( GetCurrentProcessHandle(), lpAddress, dwSize); } }


C Concurrent Classes from System.Collections.Concurrent

T

HE CONCURRENT CLASSES APPEAR

in Figures C.1 through C.6 and are

discussed in Chapter 19.

A

Figure C.1: System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentQueue,T.

895


896

Appendix C: Concurrent Classes from System.Collections

B

Figure C.2: System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentStack,T.

C

Figure C.3: System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentBag,T.



897

D

Figure C.4: System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentLinkedList,T.

E

Figure C.5: System.Collections.Concurrent.BlockingCollection,T.


898


F

Figure C.6: System.Collections.Concurrent.ConcurrentDictionary,TKey, TValue.


D C# 2.0 Topics

Topic Title

Page Number

access modifiers on getters and setters

231–232

anonymous methods

480–482

associating XML comments with programming constructs

386–388

BackgroundWorker patterns

804–809

constraints

440–457

contextual keywords

6–7

custom collections building IComparable interfaces IDictionary interface IList interface iterators linked lists primary collections classes providing index operators queues returning null sorting stacks

611–612 614–617 614–617 614–617 634–650 629–630 617–630 630–634 629 634 626–628 628 Continues

899


900

Appendix D: C# 2.0 Topics

Topic Title

Page Number

default() operator

68, 338

delegates, events

528–530

dictionary collections

622–626

FindAll() method

621–622

general catch blocks

409–410

generics

422–439

constraints

439–452

contravariance

457–463

covariance

457–463

events

528–530

internals

463–467

methods

453–457

types

427–439

Java, filenames must match class names

4

List class

617–621

namespace alias qualifiers

384–385

nullable modifiers

57–58

numeric conversion with TryParse() method

198–199

partial classes

262–264

reflection on generic types

660–662

SafeHandle, applying

823–824

static properties

254–256

System.Console.ReadKey() method

18

System.Exception catch blocks

195–196

System.Runtime.Serialization.OptionalFieldAttribute

686


Appendix D: C# 2.0 Topics

Topic Title

Page Number

System.Threading.Interlocked class methods

762

System.Threading.Mutex

766

TryParse() method

63–64

turning off warning messages (#pragma)

142–143

901




E C# 3.0 Topics

Topic Title

Page Number

anonymous types

245–246

automatically implemented properties

225–227

collection interfaces anonymous types and implicitly typed local variables

536–543

collection initializers

543–546

error handling

519–520

extension methods

256–258, 278

on interfaces implicitly typed local variables

322–323 53–55 Continues

903


904

Appendix E: C# 3.0 Topics

Page Number

Topic Title LINQ compiling query expressions

607

deferred execution with query expressions

593–598

distinct members

606–607

filtering query expressions

598–599

grouping query expressions

602–605

implementing implicit execution

607–608

Let clause

600–602

overview of query expressions

590–592

query continuation with into clauses

605–606

query expressions

589–590

query expressions as method invocations

608–609

sorting query expressions

599–600

.NET versioning

26–27

object initializers

239–241

parameterless anonymous methods

482

partial methods

264–267

standard query operators

552–586, 582–586

calling SelectMany() method

580–582

counting elements with Count() method

561

deferred execution

562–566

filtering with Where() method

556–557

grouping results with GroupBy() method

575–577

implementing one-to-many relationships

577–580

performing inner joins with Join() method

572–575

projecting with Select() method

557–560

sorting with OrderBy() method and ThenBy() method

566–572

System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CompilerGeneratedAttribute

236


F C# 4.0 Topics

Topic Title

Page Number


797–798

calling APMs (Asynchronous Programming Models) using TPL (Task Parallel Library)

791–796

canceling parallel loops

729–734

common namespaces

153–154

concurrent collection classes

773–774

executing iterations in Parallel

724–734

generics enabling contravariance

460–462

enabling covariance

458–460

lazy loading with

401–402

support for covariance and contravariance

462–463

lock keyword

757

ManualResetEvent and semaphores over AutoReset Event

772 Continues

905


906

Appendix F: C# 4.0 Topics

Topic Title

Page Number

Monitor class synchronization

754–757

multithreading, unhandled exceptions on AppDomain

744–746

optional parameters

182–185

parallel exception handling with System.AggregateException

728–729

Parallel LINQ (PLINQ)

559–560

programming with dynamic objects

688–699

reset events

768–771

running LINQ queries in parallel

734–738

running threads

706–738

canceling tasks

718–722

disposing tasks

723–724

long-running threads

722–723

unhandled exception handling on Task

715–718

System-defined delegates: Func

483–485

thread local storage

774–775

Tuple generic types

437–438

use of System.Exception

412


Index

16-bit characters, 41 42 as strings versus as integers, 187

; (semicolons) statements without, 10–11 whitespace, 11–12 ~ (bitwise complement) operator, 120 # (hash) symbol, 139 - (minus) operator, 84–92 + (plus) operator, 84–92 = (simple assignment) operator, 14 _ (underscore), 15 != (inequality) operator, 110, 370 ! (logical notation) operator, 113 % (remainder) operator, 85 && (AND) operator, 112, 373 ' (single quote), 42 () (cast operator), 375–376 * (multiplication) operator, 85 + (addition) operator, 85, 371–373 ++ (increment) operator, 94–97 - - (decrement) operator, 94–97 / (division) operator, 85

/// (three-forward-slash), 387 < (less than) operator, 110 (greater than) operator, 110 >= (greater than or equal to) operator, 110 ? (conditional) operator, 113–114 ?? (null coalescing) operator, 114–115 @ symbol, 45 \ (backslash), 42 \n (newline) character, 42, 48 ^ (exclusive OR) operator, 112 {} (code blocks), 105–107 || (OR) operator, 111–112, 373 constraints, 450

A abstract classes, inheritance, 293–299 abstract members, 294 declaring, 297 accessibility modifiers, 381 accessing arrays, 70

CAS (Code Access Security), 659, 852 class instances with Me keyword, 214 instance fields, 210–211 members, referent types, 839 metadata, reflection, 652–662 security code, 25 access modifiers, 220–222 circumventing, 852 classes, 380–381 on getters and setters, 231–232 private, 275 protected, 276 acronyms, common C#, 862–863 actions, System.Action, 483–484 Active Template Library (ATL), 278 adding comments, 20–23 items to Dictionary, 623 operators, 371–373 addition (+) operator, 85, 371–373 Add() method, 543 addresses, pointers and, 830–839

907


908

Index aggregation multiple inheritance, 280 single inheritance, 279 aliasing, 164–165 qualifiers, namespaces, 384–385 allocating data on call stacks, 836 AllowMultiple parameter, 674 ambiguity, avoiding, 213–217 AND operator (&&), 112, 373 anonymous functions, 486 anonymous methods, 480–482 internals, 494–495 parameterless, 482 anonymous types, 245–246 arrays, initializing, 545–546 collection interfaces, 536–538 generating, 542–543 implicit local variables, 54 projection to, 558 within query expressions, 593 APIs (application programming interfaces) encapsulation, 826–828 VirtualAllocEx(),

declaring, 818–819 wrappers, simplifying calls with, 828–829 APMs (Asynchronous Programming Models), 783–797 TPL (Task Parallel Library), calling, 791–796 AppDomain, unhandled exceptions on, 744–746 applicable calls, 185 applications domains, CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), 854–855 HelloWorld program, 2–4, 28–30

single instance, 766–767 task-related finalization exceptions suppressed during shutdown, 717 applying arrays, 70–76 bitwise operators, 118 characters in arithmetic operations, 88–89 factory inheritance, 451 FlagsAttribute, 354–355 generic classes, 427–429 lambda expressions as data, 498–499 post-increment operators, 95 pre-increment operators, 96 SafeHandle, 823–824 strings, 50 StructLayoutAttribute

for sequential layout, 820–821 System.Threading.Interl ocked class, 761–763

validation to properties, 228–229 variables, 12–16 variance in delegates, 485 weak references, 391–393 ArgumentNullException,

407 arithmetic operators, 85 arrays, 64–80 accessing, 70 anonymous types, initializing, 545–546 applying, 70–76 assigning, 66–70 common errors, 78–80 declaring, 65–66, 70 errors, 69 foreach loops, 546–547 instance methods, 75–76 instantiation, 66–70 length of, 72 methods, 73–75 parameters, 173–176 redimensioning, 75

strings as, 76–78 support for covariance and contravariance in, 462–463 as operators, 302 assemblies, 3 attributes, 665 CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), 855–858 metadata reflection, 652–662 multimode, building, 856n5 referencing, 377–381 targets, modifying, 378–379 Assert() methods, 91 assigning arrays, 66–70 indexer property names, 632–633 null to strings, 51 pointers, 834–837 variables, 13, 14–16 assignment operators, 92–98 binary operators, combining, 373 bitwise, 120 associating data in classes, 250 XML comments with programming constructs, 386–388 associativity, order of, 86 Asynchronous Delegate Invocation, 797–801 asynchronous operations with System.Threading.Thr ead, 738–740

Asynchronous Programming Models, Se APMs AsyncState property, 710 ATL (Active Template Library), 278 atomicity, 704–705, 752 attributes, 663–688 assemblies, 665


Index command-line, 881–888 constructors, initializing, 668–673 custom, 666–667 FlagsAttribute, 354–355, 675 limiting, 674 metadata reflection, 652–662 predefined, 676–677 return, specifying, 666 searching, 667–668 serialization, 680–682 System.ConditionalAttri bute, 677–679 System.NonSerializable,

682–683 System.ObsoleteAttribut e, 679–680 System.Runtime.Serializ ation.OptionalField Attribute, 686 ThreadStaticAttribute,

775–777 automatically implemented properties, 225–227 AutoResetEvent, semaphores over, 772 availability of types, 380 Average function, 585 avoiding ambiguity, 213–217 copying, 345 deadlock, 759, 764–765 equality conditionals, 91 string types, 759–760 synchronization, 760 this type, 759–760 typeof types, 759–760 unboxing, 345 unnecessary locking, 765–766

B BackgroundWorker class pat-

terns, 804–809 backslash (\), 42 base classes, 204 constraints, 444–445 overriding, 281–293

refactoring, 271 Base Class Library. See BCL base interfaces, using in class declarations, 320 base members, 291–292 base types, casting between derived types, 272–273 BCL (Base Class Library), 25 CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), 860 behaviors, dynamic data type, 690–693 benefits of generics, 430–431 best practices, synchronization design, 674 binary operators, 85, 371–373 BinarySearch() method, 75, 620 Binary Tree and Pair, full source code listings, 876–881 BinaryTree class with no constraints, declaring, 439 binding, dynamic, 694 bits, 115 bitwise operators, 115–121 assignment, 120 complement (~) operator, 120 blocks catch, general, 409–410 code blocks, 831 code blocks (), 105–107 System.Exception,

195–196 unchecked, 418 Boolean expressions, 109–115 Boolean types, 40–41 boxing, 339–346 break statements, 132–135 BubbleSort() method, 470–472 buffers overflow bugs, 72 overruns, 72 building custom collections, 611–612

909

multimode assemblies, 856n5 bytes, 115

C C# acronyms, 862–863 CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), compiling to machine code, 847–849 compilers downloading, 865 installing, 865–867 custom collection interfaces, 612–613 delegate instantiation, 477–480 general catch blocks in, 409–410 LINQ, projection using query expressions, 592–593 overview of, 1–2 preprocessor directives, 138–145 properties, 48 syntax fundamentals, 4–12 VirtualAllocEx()APIs, declaring, 818–819 without generics, 422–439 C++ array declaration, 66 buffer overflow bugs, 72 delete operator, 208 deterministic destruction, 399, 850 dispatch method calls during construction, 286 global methods, 158 global variables and functions, 248 header files, 160 implicit overriding, 283 multiple inheritance, 278 operators, errors, 110 pointers, declaring, 833 preprocessing, 138 pure virtual functions, 297


910

Index C++ (contd.) struct defines type with public members, 337 switch statements, 132 templates, 442 var, 540 Variant, 540 void*, 540 void as data types, 52 calculating pi, 725 values, 115 callbacks, invoking, 787 caller variables, matching parameter names, 168 calling APMs (Asynchronous Programming Models), 784–786, 791–796 applicable, 185 binary operators, 372–373 call sites, 168 constructors, 237, 243–244 external functions, 826–828 methods, 150–156 object initializers, 240 SelectMany() method, 580–582 stacks, 168 allocating data on, 836 exceptions, 412 wrappers, simplifying APIs with, 828–829 cancellation cooperative, 719 parallel loops, 729–734 tasks, 718–722 CancellationTokenSource.Token

property, 731 CAS (Code Access Security), 659, 852 case sensitivity, 2 casting between base and derived types, 272–273

within inheritance chains, 274 inside generic methods, 456–457 cast operator (()), 58, 375–376 catch blocks general, 409–410 System.Exception,

195–196 catching exceptions, 191–192, 196, 407–408, 411 categories of types, 55–57, 332–339 CD-ROM drives, 274 Cell type, 427 centralizing initialization, 244–245 chains, casting within inheritance, 274 characters arithmetic operations, applying, 88–89 escape, 42, 43 newline (\n), 42, 48 Unicode, 41–43 char types, 41 checked conversions, 59–61, 417–419 checking for null, 513–514 types, 851 child classes, 205 child collections, creating, 578 CIL (Common Intermediate Language), 23 boxing code in, 340 CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), 858 dynamic data type, 693 and ILDASM, 27–30 out variable implementation, 496–498 representation of generics, 463–464 System.SerializableAttr ibute, 687–688

circular wait condition, 765

class, iterators, 645

classes, 201–202 abstract, inheritance, 293–299 access modifiers, 220–222, 380–381 associated data, 250 BackgroundWorker

patterns, 804–809 base, 204 constraints, 444–445 overriding, 281–293 refactoring, 271 BinaryTree, declaring with no constraints, 439 concrete, 293 concurrent collection, 773–774 concurrent from Systems.Collections .Concurrent, 895–898 ConsoleListControl, 307

constructors, 236–247 declaring, 205–209 defining, 206 definitions, 7 deriving, 270 encapsulation, 258–260 exceptions, inheritance, 192 extension methods, 256–258 generics, 427–429, 661–662 hierarchies, 204, 473n1 inner, 262 instances fields, 209–211 methods, 211–212 instantiating, 205–209 interfaces compared with, 328–329 duplicating, 433–434 iterators, creating multiple in, 648–649 libraries, 377–378, 378 LinkedList, 629 List, 617–621 members, 209 Monitor, synchronization, 754–758


Index nested, 260–262, 265 object-oriented programming, 203–205 partial, 262–267 primary collections, 617–630 properties, 222–236 Queue, 629 sealed, 281 SortedDictionary, 626–628 SortedList, 626–628 Stack, 422, 425 Stack, 628

static, 255 static members, 247–256 System.Threading.Interl ocked, 761–763 System.Threading.WaitHa ndle, 768–769 this keyword, 213–220

clauses into, query continuation

with, 605–606 Let, 600–602 query expressions, 590 where, converting expression trees to, 499 cleanup, resources, 790–791, 823–824 well-formed types, 393–400 Clear() method, 75 CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), 1, 24, 843–844 application domains, 854–855 assemblies, 855–858 BCL (Base Class Library), 860 C#, compiling to machine code, 847–849 CIL (Common Intermediate Language), 858 CLS (Common Language Specification), 859–860

CTS (Common Type System), 858–859 defining, 844–845 implementation, 845–846 manifests, 855–858 metadata, 860–861 modules, 855–858 P/Invoke, 816–830 runtime, 849–854 CLS (Common Language Specification), 24 CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), 859–860 CLU language, 635 clusters, 635 code access security, 25 Binary Tree and Pair, 876–881 CAS (code access security), 659 CIL, boxing in, 340 command-line attributes, 881–888 comments, 20–23 conventions, events, 526–528 declaration space, 107–109 HelloWorld program, 2–4 invalid, indentation, 106 machine, 844, 847–849 management, 24 multithreading. See multithreading paths, 159 P/Invoke, 816–830 ProductSerialNumber,

874–876 pseudocode, executing, 752 reusing, 378 scope, 107–109 styles, avoiding ambiguity, 213–217 Tic-Tac-Toe, 869–874 unsafe, 831–832 values, hardcoding, 35–37 virtual computer detection using P/Invoke, 888–894

911

whitespace, formatting, 11–12 Code Access Security (CAS), 659, 852 code blocks (), 105–107 collections concurrent, 773–774 custom, building, 611–612 dictionary, 622–626 IComparable interfaces, 614–617 IDictionary interface,

614–617 IList interface,

614–617 index operators, 630–634 initializers, 240–241, 543–546 interfaces, 612–613 anonymous types, 536–538 IEnumerable,

546–552 implicitly typed local variables, 538–540 with standard query operators, 535–536 iterators, 634–650 linked lists, 629–630 null, returning, 634 primary collections classes, 617–630 queues, 629 sorting, 626–628 stacks, 628 Collect() method, 391 COM controlling, 813 DLL registration, 858 combining binary operators and assignment operators, 373 command-line arguments to Main() methods, passing, 166 attributes, full source code listings, 881–888 options, 76


912

Index CommandLineHandler.TryParse() method, 671

comments, 20–23 delimited, 21 single-line, 22 XML, 385–389 common errors, arrays, 78–80 Common Intermediate Language. See CIL Common Language Infrastructure. See CLI Common Language Specification. See CLS CompareTo() method, 442 ComparisonHandler-Compatible method,

478–479 compatibility, types between enums, 349–350 compilers C# downloading, 865 installing, 865–867 extracting XML data, 385n2 compiling case sensitivity, 2 C# to machine code, 847–849 HelloWorld program, 3–4 JIT (just-in-time) compilers, 848 LINQ query expressions, 607 static compilation versus dynamic programming, 695–696 string concatenation, 45 computers, virtual, 816 concatenation of strings compile time, 45 Concat() standard query operator, 584 concrete classes, 293 concurrent classes from Systems.Collections. Concurrent, 895–898

concurrent collection classes, 773–774

conditional (?) operator, 113–114 conditionals, 109. See also Boolean expressions conditions, removing, 765 connecting publishers, 511–512 subscribers, 511–512 console executable, 378 ConsoleListControl class, 307 consoles, input and output, 16–20 ConsoleSyncObject, 797 constants expressions, 98 mathematics, 107 const fields, 258–259 constraints base classes, 444–445 constructors, 446–447, 451 generics, 439–457 inheritance, 447–448, 450 interfaces, 442–444 limitations, 449–452 multiple, 446 struct/class, 445 constructors attributes, initializing, 668–673 calling, 237, 243–244 classes, 236–247 constraints, 446–447, 451 declaring, 237–238 default, 239 defining, 434–435 inheritance, 292–293 overloading, 241–242 static, 253–254 constructs metadata reflection, 652–662 programming, associating XML comments with, 386–388 contextual keywords, 6–7 Continuation Passing Style. See CPS continue statements, 135–136

ContinueWith() method,

711–715, 717, 795–796 contravariance, generics, 457–463 control flow, 83–84 statements, 121–132 controlling COM, 813 threads, 706–738 conventions code, events, 526–528 naming. See naming conventions conversion as operators, 302 checked, 59–61, 417–419 C# to CIL, 847 customizing, 274 between data types, 58–64 between enums and strings, 348, 350–351 expression trees to SQL where clauses, 499 generics to type parameters, 457 implicit, 62, 273 interfaces between implementing classes and, 318 numbers to Booleans, 61 numeric conversion with TryParse() method, 198–199 operators, 375 guidelines for, 377 implementation, 376 strings, 63 unchecked, 59–61, 417–419 cooperative cancellation, 719 copying, avoiding, 345 Copy() method, 257 CopyTo() method, 617 CountdownEvent, 772 Count() function, 585 counting elements with Count() method, 561 Count property, 617 covariance, 438 generics, 457–463


Index IEnumewrable,

485n2 C pointers, declaring, 833 CPS (Continuation Passing Style), 787–789 CTS (Common Type System), 858–859 Current Programming with Windows, 801n1 custom attributes, 666–667 custom collections building, 611–612 IComparable interfaces, 614–617 IDictionary interface,

614–617 IList interface,

614–617 index operators, 630–634 interfaces, 612–613 iterators, 634–650 linked lists, 629–630 null, returning, 634 primary collections classes, 617–630 queues, 629 sorting, 626–628 stacks, 628 custom dynamic object implementation, 696–699 customizing conversions, defining, 274 event implementation, 532–533 exceptions, defining, 414–419 LINQ, 585 serialization, 683–684

D data allocating on call stacks, 836 to and from an alternate thread, passing, 799–801 fixing, 835 persistence, 217

retrieval from files, 218 DataStore() method, 545

data types, 13–14, 31–32, 40–57 arrays, 64–80 categories of, 55–57 conversions between, 58–64 delegates, 472–473 dynamic, principles and behaviors, 690–693 fundamental numeric types, 32–40 nullable modifiers, 57–58 null keyword, 51–52 parameters, 818–819 short, 33 strings, 43–51 System.Text. StringBuilder, 51 void keyword, 52–55

deadlock, 705–706, 760 avoiding, 759, 764–765 decimal types, 34–35 declaration space, 107–109 declaring abstract members, 297 arrays, 65–66, 70 BinaryTree class with no constraints, 439 classes, 8, 205–209 constant fields, 258 constructors, 237–238 delegates data types, 475 with method returns, 522 events, 525–526 external functions, 817 fields as volatile, 760–761 finalizers, 393 generics classes, 430 delegate types, 529 interfaces, 432 multiple type parameters, 436 instance fields, 209–210 interfaces, constraints, 443–444

913

jagged arrays, 71 Main() method, 9–10 methods, 157–161, 159–160 parameters, 159 pointers, 832–834 properties, 223–225 static constructors, 253–254 static properties, 254 two-dimensional arrays, 68 Type alias, 164 variables, 13, 14 applying anonymous methods, 481 of the Class Type, 206 VirtualAllocEx() APIs, 818–819 Win32 APIs, 818n1 decorating properties, 663, 664 decrement (- -) operator, 94–97 default constructors, 239 default() operators, 68, 338, 435 default values, specifying, 435–436 deferred execution with LINQ query expressions, 593–598 standard query operators, 562–566 defining abstract classes, 294 abstract members, 295 cast operators, 275, 375 classes, 7, 206 CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), 844–845 constructors, 434–435 custom conversions, 274 custom exceptions, 414–419 delegates, types, 474–475 enums, 347 finalizers, 393–395, 434–435 generic methods, 453 index operators, 631–632 inheritance, 269–270 interfaces, 307 iterators, 636


914

Index defining (contd.) namespaces, well-formed types, 382–385 nested classes, 260, 265 objects, 206 preprocessor symbols, 141 properties, 224 publishers, events, 510–511 simple generic classes, 429–430 specialized Stack classes, 425 struct, 334 subroutines, 53 subscriber methods, 508–510 types, 7–8 delegates class hierarchies, 473n1 data types, 472–473 events, 528–530 instantiating, 475–480 internals, 473–474 invoking, 512–513 multicast, 508 coding observer patterns with, 508–523 internals, 518–519 operators, 514–516 overview of, 470–480 passing, 829 types, defining, 474–475 variance, applying, 485 delete operator, 208 deleting whitespace, 12 delimited comments, 21 XML, 387 delimiters, statements, 10 dereferencing pointers, 837–839 reference types, 334 deriving base types, casting between, 272–273 inheritance, 270–281 one interface from another, 318 preventing, 281 design, synchronization best practices, 674

destruction, deterministic, 208, 399, 850 detecting virtual computers using P/Invoke, 888–894 deterministic destruction, 208, 399, 850 deterministic finalization, 395–398 diagrams interfaces, 325 sequences, 520 Venn, 568 dialog boxes, Windows Error Reporting, 715 dictionary collections, 622–626 directives import, wildcards in, 162 preprocessor, C#, 138–145 using, 161–168 disambiguation, multiple Main() methods, 167 dispatch method calls during construction, 286 Dispose() method, 397 disposing tasks, 723–724 distinct members, 606–607 Distinct() standard query operator, 584 dividing float by zero, 91 division (/) operator, 85 documentation, generating XML, 388–389 domains, applications, 854–855 double type, 36 do/while loops, 121–123 downloading C# compilers, 865 Duffy, Joe, 801n1 duplicating interfaces, 433–434 dynamic binding, 694 dynamic data type principles and behaviors, 690–693 dynamic objects custom implementation, 696–699 programming with, 688–699

reflection, invoking, 689–690 dynamic programming, static compilation versus, 695–696

E EAPs (Event-based Asynchronous Patterns), 801–804 editors, visual hints for, 144–145 Eject() method, 274 emitting errors, 141–142 empty catch block internals, 411 empty collections, returning, 634 enabling Intellisense, 592 encapsulation, 203 APIs, 826–828 circumventing, 852 classes, 258–260 information hiding, 220 objects group data with methods, 208–209 publication, 524–535 subscriptions, 523–524 of types, 379–380 enums defining, 347 flags, 351–355 FlagsAttribute, 354–355 string conversion, 350–351 type compatibility between, 349–350 value types, 346–355 equality conditionals, avoiding, 91 equality (==) operators, 110–111, 370 Equals() method, overriding, 361–369 errors arrays, 69, 78–80 emitting, 141–142 handling C# 3.0, 519–520 P/Invoke, 821–823 infinite recursion, 178


Index methods, 186–199 operators, 110 reporting, 196 trapping, 187–192 escape sequences, 42 Event-based Asynchronous Patterns. See EAPs events, 507–508 code conventions, 526–528 declaring, 525–526 delegates, 528–530 generics, 528–530 implementation, customizing, 532–533 internals, 530–523 multicast delegates, coding observer patterns with, 508–523 notifications firing, 527–528 with multiple threads, 763–764 overview of, 523–533 publishers, defining, 510–511 reset, 768–771 exceptions catching, 191–192, 196, 407–408, 411 class inheritance, 192 customizing, defining, 414–419 error handling, 186–199 general catch blocks, 409–410 handling, 405–419 background worker patterns, 808–809 subscribers, 520 unhandled exception handling on Task, 715–718 hiding, 411–412 inner, 415 multiple types, 405–407 reports, 412 rethrowing, 197, 413 serializable, 416 throwing, 406–407 types, 193–194

unhandled exceptions on AppDomain, 744–746 exclusive OR (^) operator, 112 executing deferred with LINQ query expressions, 593–598 standard query operators, 562–566 implicit execution, implementing, 607–608 iterations in Parallel, 724–734 management, 23–30 ManualResetEvent

synchronization, 770 pseudocode, 752 threads, 704. See also multithreading time, 24 VES (Virtual Execution System), 844 explicit cast, 58–59 explicit member implementation, 314–315 exponential notation, 37 exposing Async methods, 810 expressions. See also LINQ Boolean, 109–115 constants, 98 lambda, 401, 486–505 queries LINQ, 589–590 PLINQ (Parallel LINQ), 736 trees, 498–505 converting to SQL where clauses, 499 object graphs, 499–501 viewing, 503–505 typeof, 654–655 Extensible Markup Language. See XML extensions interfaces, 322–323 IQueryable, 585

915

methods, 256–258, 278 external functions, calling, 826–828 extracting XML data, 385n2

F factory inheritance, 451 false operator, 373–375 FCL (Framework Class Library), 860 fields const, 258–259 instances, 209–211, 249 static, 248–250 virtual, properties as, 232–234 volatile, declaring as, 760–761 filenames, must match class names (Java), 4 files data retrieval, 218 header, 160 loading, 216 XML, 22–23, 388–389. See also XML filtering LINQ query expressions, 598–599 with System.Linq.Enumera ble.Where(), 562 with Where() methods,

556–557 finalization deterministic, 395–398 garbage collection and, 398–399 guidelines, 400 task-related, 717 finalizers, 241, 393–395 defining, 434–435 FindAll() method, 621–622 firing event notifications, 527–528 fixing data, 835 flags, enums, 351–355 FlagsAttribute, 354–355, 675


916

Index floating-point types, 33–34 inequality with, 89–92 special characteristics of, 89 flow. See control flow foreach loops with IEnumerable, 547–551 without IEnumerable, 551–552 foreach loops, 127–130 with arrays, 546–547 collections, iterating over, 613 modifying, 552 parallel execution of, 727 for loops, 124–127 format items, 19 Format() method, 46 formatting code, avoiding ambiguity, 213–217 indentation, 12 Java lowercase, 9 uppercase, 9 numbers as hexadecimal, 38–39 PLINQ (Parallel LINQ), 736–738 round-trip, 39–40 single instance applications, 766–767 whitespace, 11–12 Forms, Windows, 809–811 Framework Class Library (FCL), 860 f-reachable objects, 390 from clause, 590 full outer joins, 569 full source code listings Binary Tree and Pair, 876–881 command-line attributes, 881–888 ProductSerialNumber,

874–876 Tic-Tac-Toe, 869–874

virtual computer detection using P/Invoke, 888–894

functions anonymous, 486 Average, 585 Count(), 585 external calling, 826–828 declaring, 817 global variables and, 248 Max(), 585 Min(), 585 pointers, passing delegates, 829 pure virtual, 297 Sum(), 585 fundamental numeric types, 32–40

G garbage collection, 25, 849–851 and finalization, 398–399 well-formed types, 390–393 general catch blocks, 409–410 generating anonymous types, 542–543 XML documentation files, 388–389 generics, 421 benefits of, 430–431 catch, 194 classes, 427–429 collection interface hierarchies, 613 constraints, 439–457 contravariance, 457–463 covariance, 457–463 C# without, 422–439 events, 528–530 interfaces, 432–433 internals, 463–467 lazy loading and, 401 methods, 453–457 structs, 432–433 types, 427–439 nested, 438–439 reflection, 660–662 Tuple, 437–438 GetHashCode() method, overriding, 358–361

GetSummary() member, 296

getters, access modifiers, 231–232 GetType() member, 653–654 GhostDoc, 389n3 global variables and functions, 248 goto statements, 137–138 graphs, objects, 499–501 greater than (>) operator, 110 greater than or equal to (>=) operator, 110 groupby clause, 590 GroupBy() method, grouping results with, 575–577 grouping LINQ query expressions, 602–605 results with GroupBy() method, 575–577 statements into methods, 150 GroupJoin() method, 577–580 guidelines for conversion operators, 377 for exception handling, 411–413 finalization, 400 P/Invoke, 829–830

H handling errors C# 3.0, 519–520 methods, 186–199 P/Invoke, 821–823 exceptions, 405–419 background worker patterns, 808–809 subscribers, 520 unhandled exception handling on Task, 715–718 hardcoding values, 35–37 hash symbol (#), 139 header files, 160


Index heaps, reference types, 333 HelloWorld program, 2–4 CIL output for, 28–30 hexidecimal notation, 38 hiding exceptions, 411–412 information, 220 hierarchies classes, 204, 473n1 collections, 613 hints for visual editors, 144–145 hold and wait condition, 764 hooking up background worker patterns, 807–808

I ICollection interface,

616–617 IComparable interface,

443, 614–617 IComparer interface,sort-

ing, 614–615 identifiers, 6–7 keywords used as, 7 type parameters, 429 IDictionary interface,

614–617 IDisposable interface, using

explicitly in place of SafeHandle, 825–826 Id property, 710 IEnumerable collections interfaces, 546–552 foreach loops with, 547–551 foreach loops without, 551–552 IEnumewrable,

covariance, 485n2 if statements, 102–103

followed by code blocks (), 105 ILDASM, CIL and, 27–30 IList interface, 614–617 immutable anonymous types, 541

immutable strings, 16, 49–51 immutable value types, 336 implementing CLI (Common Language Infrastructure), 845–846 conversion operators, 376 custom dynamic objects, 696–699 Equals() method, 366 events, customizing, 532–533 explicit member, 314–315 generic interfaces, 432 GetHashCode() method, 359 implicit execution, 607–608 implicit member, 315–316 interfaces, 308–312, 312–318, 433–434 multiple interface inheritance, 324–326 new operator, 238 one-to-many relationships, 577–580 outer joins, 579 virtual methods, 283 implicit base type casting, 273 implicit conversion, 62, 273 cast operators, 376 implicit execution, implementing, 607–608 implicitly typed local variables, 53–55, 538–540 implicit member implementation, 315–316 implicit overriding, 283 import directive, wildcards in, 162 incompatibilities, 6n6 increment (++) operator, 94–97 indentation formatting, 12 invalid code, 106 indexer property names, assigning, 632–633 index operators, 630–634

917

items to Dictionary, adding, 623 indiscriminate synchronization, 758 inequality (!=) operator, 110, 370 inequality with floatingpoint types, 89–92 inferencing types, 454–455 infinite recursion errors, 178 infinity, negative, 92 information hiding, 220 infrastructure, languages, 23–30. See also CLI inheritance, 203, 269–270 abstract classes, 293–299 as operators, 302 base classes, overriding, 281–293 chains, casting within, 274 constraints, 447–448, 450 definitions, 269–270 derivation, 270–281 exceptions, classes, 192 factory, 451 interfaces, 318–321 is operators, 301 methods, 271 multiple, 278 multiple interfaces, 321–322, 324–326 polymorphism, 297–299 single, 278–281 System.Object, 299–301 types, 205 value types, 338–339 initializers collection, 240–241, 543–546 objects, 239–241 initializing anonymous type arrays, 545–546 attributes through constructors, 668–673 centralizing, 244–245 jagged arrays, 70 lazy initialization, wellformed types, 400–402 structs, 336–337


918

Index initializing (contd.) three-dimensional arrays, 69 two-dimensional arrays, 69 inner classes, 262 inner exceptions, 415 inner joins, 568 with Join() method, performing, 572–575 input, consoles, 16–20 installing C# compilers, 865–867 instances array methods, 75–76 custom attributes, retrieving, 670 fields, 209–211, 249 methods, 47, 211–212 single applications, 766–767 instantiating, 9 arrays, 66–70 classes, 205–209 delegates, 475–480 generics based on reference types, 465–467 based on value types, 464–465 integers types, 32–33 values, overflowing, 59 Intellisense, enabling, 592 interfaces, 305–307 collection, 535–536. See also collection interfaces compared with classes, 328–329 constraints, 442–444 conversion between implementing classes and, 318 custom collections, 612–613 defining, 307 diagramming, 325 duplicating, 433–434 explicit member implementation, 314–315 extension methods on, 322–323

generics, 432–433 ICollection, 616–617 IComparable, 443,

614–617 IComparer, 614–615 IDictionary, 614–617 IDisposable, using

explicitly in place of SafeHandle, 825–826 IList, 614–617 implementation, 312–318 implicit member implementation, 315–316 inheritance, 318–321 multiple inheritance, 321–322, 324–326 Parallel.For() API, 726 polymorphism through, 307–312 support, 440 value types, 338–339 versioning, 327–328 VirtualAllocEx(),

declaring, 818–819 Windows UI programming, 809–813 internals anonymous methods, 494–495 delegates, 473–474 events, 530–523 generics, 463–467 lambda expressions, 494–495 multicast delegates, 518–519 properties, 235–236 interoperability of languages, 25 Intersect() standard query operator, 584 into clauses, query continuation with, 605–606 in type parameter, enabling contravariance with, 460–462 invalid code, indenting, 106 invalid reference types, 833

invoking callbacks, 787 delegates, 512–513, 522 members, 655–660 P/Invoke (Platform Invoke), 816–830 reflection, dynamic objects, 689–690 sequential invocation, 516–517 using statements, 397 IQueryable, 585 IsCompleted property, 710 is operators, 301 items, formatting, 19 iterations Dictionary, 624

executing in Parallel, 724–734 foreach loops, modifying, 552 over foreach loops, 613 iterators class, 645 classes, creating multiple in, 648–649 collections, 634–650 defining, 636 examples of, 641–643 overview of, 646–648 and state, 639–641 struct, 645 syntax, 636–637 values, yielding, 637–639 yield break, 645–646 yield statements, 649

J jagged arrays. See also arrays declaring, 71 initializing, 70 Java array declaration, 66 exception specifiers, 408 filenames must match class names, 4 generics, 467 implicit overriding, 283 inner classes, 262


Index virtual methods by default, 282 wildcards in import directive, 162 JavaScript var, 540 Variant, 540 void*, 540 JIT (just-in-time) compilers, 848 jitting, 24 Join() method, performing with inner joins, 572–575 joins, 568, 569 jump statements, 132–138 just-in-time (JIT) compilers, 848

K keywords, 4–6 contextual, 6–7 lock, 757–758 Me, accessing class instances with, 214 new, 67 null, 51–52 string, 163n2 this, classes, 213–220 used as identifiers, 7 var, 53 void, 52–55 yield, 6n5 Knoppix, 867

L lambdas expressions, 401, 486–505 statements, 486–489 languages, 158 accessing class instances with Me keyword, 214 buffer overflow bugs, 72 CIL (Common Intermediate Language), 23 COM DLL registration, 858 delete operator, 208

deterministic destruction, 399, 850 dispatch method calls during construction, 286 exception specifiers, 408 generics, 467 global variables and functions, 248 header files, 160 implicit overriding, 283 infrastructure, 23–30 inner classes, 262 interoperability, 25 Java filename must match class names, 4 main() is all lowercase, 9 multiple inheritance, 278 operator errors, 110 origin of iterators, 635 preprocessing, 138 project scope Imports directive, 162 pure virtual functions, 297 redimensioning arrays, 75 returning void, 53 short data types, 33 string concatenation at compile time, 45 struct defines type with public members, 337 templates, 442 UML (Unified Modeling Language), 325n1 virtual methods by default, 282 Visual Basic line-based statements, 10 void*, 540 void as data types, 52 wildcards in import directive, 162 last in, first out (LIFO), 422 lazy initialization, wellformed types, 400–402 left outer joins, 568 length of arrays, 72 strings, 48–49

919

less than (), 110 greater than or equal to (>=), 110 increment (++), 94–97 index, 623, 630–634 inequality (!=), 110, 370 is, 301 less than (

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